Method for controlling information apparatus, computer-readable recording medium, and method for providing information

ABSTRACT

A control method according to the present disclosure causes a computer of an information apparatus to: display on a display, a display screen representing at least a floor plan including one or more rooms; and when it is sensed that movement of a second-type device icon that is movable only within a region corresponding to a predetermined room associated with the type of the device icon among the one or more rooms, and in the case where it is judged that the second-type device icon is moved out of the region corresponding to the predetermined room, perform display control to return the second-type device icon to the region corresponding to the predetermined room.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a method for controlling informationapparatus, a computer-readable recording medium, and a method forproviding information.

BACKGROUND ART

Technologies for remotely monitoring or remotely controlling one or moretarget devices using one remote controller are proposed.

Patent Literature 1 relates to a technology for remotely controlling andremotely monitoring open/close operation and the state of an electricbuilding material (such as a hallway door or a skylight). Specifically,a monitor screen of a personal computer displays floor plans for firstand second floors of a property, a picture of the electric buildingmaterial (such as a hallway door or a skylight) and a state display iconthat indicates the open/close state of the electric building materialare displayed at the corresponding position on the floor plans. When thestate display icon is selected, an operation screen for the selectedelectric building material is displayed in another window. The operationscreen includes an open operation button, a close operation button, anoperation monitor screen, and a button for hiding the operation screen(paragraph [0025] and FIGS. 4, 5, and 6).

Patent Literature 2 discloses a user interface including a floor planand an icon. Examples of the icon include an icon representing areceptacle, an icon representing a digital image frame, and an iconrepresenting an illumination device (FIG. 8B).

However, Patent Literatures 1and 2 described above need a furtherimprovement.

Patent Literature 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application PublicationNo. 2009-213107

Patent Literature 2: U.S. Pat. No. 7,730,223

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one general aspect, the techniques disclosed here feature a methodcausing a computer of an information apparatus to: display on a display,a display screen representing at least a floor plan including one ormore rooms; and when it is sensed that movement of a second-type deviceicon that is movable only within a region corresponding to apredetermined room associated with the type of the device icon among theone or more rooms, and in the case where it is judged that thesecond-type device icon is moved out of the region corresponding to thepredetermined room, perform display control to return the second-typedevice icon to the region corresponding to the predetermined room.

According to the aspect described above, it is possible to embody afurther improvement.

These general and specific aspects may be implemented using a system, amethod, and a computer program, and any combination of systems, methods,and computer programs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a home controlsystem to which a home controller according to the present disclosure isapplied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing main devices to be controlled by the homecontroller according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the homecontroller, a device, and a server according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the form ofimplementation of the home controller according to the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of a basic screen of thehome controller according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a floor plan according to thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the floor plan includingarrangement information for device icons as texts according to the thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the floor plan includingarrangement information for device icons as images according to thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the floor plan includingarrangement information for device icons as images according to thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of transition between a firstfloor display state and a second floor display state of the basic screenof the home controller according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of the display state of adevice control screen of the home controller according to the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a device icon arrangement example of thedisplay state of the device control screen of the home controlleraccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the configuration of the display state of adevice control screen of the home controller according to the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a device icon arrangement example of thedisplay state of the device control screen of the home controlleraccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a device icon arrangement example of thedisplay state of the device control screen of the home controlleraccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a device icon arrangement example of thedisplay state of the device control screen of the home controlleraccording to the present disclosure.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are diagrams showing a configuration example of thedisplay state of the device control screen of the home controlleraccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of transition between the basicscreen of the home controller and the display state of the devicecontrol screen according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of transition between the secondfloor display state of the basic screen of the home controller and thedisplay state of the device control screen for the second flooraccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of transition from the displaystate of the device control screen of a certain device to the displaystate of the device control screen of another device according to thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of transition between thedisplay state and the hidden state of the device control screen of thehome controller according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of an animation for transitionfrom the basic screen of the home controller to the display state of thedevice control screen according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of an animation for transitionfrom the basic screen of the home controller to the display state of thedevice control screen according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing the configuration of a device icon listdisplay screen of the home controller according to the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of transition between the basicscreen of the home controller and the device icon list display screenaccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of transition between the deviceicon list display screen of the home controller and the display state ofthe device control screen according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of transition between the basicscreen of the home controller and the display state of the devicecontrol screen according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing how the home controller successivelytransitions among the display states of the device control screens fordifferent devices according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of display on the basic screenof devices that cannot be detected on a network according to the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing the configuration of home informationaccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing the configuration of vertex informationaccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing the configuration of room informationaccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence betweenthe vertex information and the floor plan for the first floor accordingto the present disclosure.

FIG. 34 is a diagram showing the configuration of a device list managedby the server according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 35 is a diagram showing the configuration of a device list managedby the home controller according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 36 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a process for the homecontroller to acquire the home information from the server according tothe present disclosure.

FIG. 37 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a process for the homecontroller to detect a device on a network when the home controller isconnected to the network according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 38 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a process for the homecontroller to detect a device on a network when the device is connectedto the network according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 39A is a flowchart showing the flow of a process for the homecontroller to control a device according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 39B is a flowchart showing the flow of a process for the homecontroller to control a device according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 40 is a flowchart showing the flow of a process for the homecontroller to generate a control command for a device in accordance withthe content of a contact by a contacting object according to the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 41 is a flowchart showing the flow of a process for the homecontroller to transmit a control command according to the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 42 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a process for the homecontroller to directly control a device according to the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 43 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a process for the homecontroller to control a device by way of the server according to thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 44 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a process for the homecontroller to acquire the state of a device from the server according tothe present disclosure.

FIG. 45 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a process for the homecontroller to directly control devices in the case where the homecontroller controls a plurality of devices with one operation accordingto the present disclosure.

FIG. 46 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a process for the homecontroller to control devices by way of the server in the case where thehome controller controls a plurality of devices with one operationaccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 47 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a process for the homecontroller to control devices by way of the server in the case where thehome controller controls a plurality of devices with one operationaccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 48 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a process for a casewhere a device icon is moved in the home controller according to thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 49 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a process for updatingthe device lists of the home controller and the server according to thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 50 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a process for updatingthe device lists of the home controller and the server according to thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 51 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a process for updatingthe device lists of the home controller and the server according to thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 52 is a diagram showing a floor plan in another pattern accordingto the present disclosure.

FIG. 53 is a diagram showing the configuration of a basic screen thatadopts the floor plan shown in FIG. 52.

FIG. 54 is a diagram showing the display state of a device controlscreen for a case where the floor plan shown in FIG. 52 is adopted.

FIG. 55 is a diagram illustrating transition between the display stateof the basic screen and the display state of the device control screen.

FIG. 56 is a diagram showing the configuration of a floor plan in whichthe size of each room is varied in accordance with the actual room sizein the floor plan shown in FIG. 52.

FIG. 57 is a diagram showing the configuration of a basic screen thatadopts the floor plan shown in FIG. 56.

FIG. 58 is a diagram showing the display state of a device controlscreen for a case where the floor plan shown in FIG. 56 is adopted asthe floor plan.

FIG. 59 is a diagram showing a floor plan in still another patternaccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 60 is a diagram showing the configuration of a basic screen thatadopts the floor plan shown in FIG. 59.

FIG. 61 is a diagram showing the display state of a device controlscreen for a case where the floor plan shown in FIG. 59 is adopted.

FIG. 62 is a diagram showing a floor plan displayed on a display in thecase where a user performs a pinch-out operation on a room in the floorplan shown in FIG. 59.

FIG. 63 is a diagram showing the display state of a device controlscreen in the floor plan displayed as enlarged shown in FIG. 62.

FIG. 64 is a diagram showing screen transition from the display state ofthe basic screen to the display state of the device control screen.

FIG. 65 is a diagram showing the configuration of a basic screen whichadopts the floor plan shown in FIG. 59 and in which device icons are notdisplayed.

FIG. 66 is a diagram showing screen transition from the display state ofthe basic screen to the display state of the device control screen for acase where the basic screen in which device icons are not displayed isadopted.

FIG. 67 is a diagram showing the configuration of the home informationfor a case where the floor plan shown in FIG. 52 is adopted.

FIG. 68 is a diagram showing the configuration of room information shownin FIG. 67.

FIG. 69 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence betweenthe display position in the room information shown in FIG. 67 and thefloor plan.

FIG. 70 is a diagram showing the configuration of a device list managedby the server for a case where the floor plan shown in FIG. 52 isadopted.

FIG. 71 is a diagram showing the configuration of a device list managedby the home controller for a case where the floor plan shown in FIG. 52is adopted.

FIG. 72 is a diagram showing an example of the basic screen displayed onthe display of the home controller.

FIG. 73 is a diagram showing the configuration of the display state ofthe device control screen of the home controller.

FIG. 74 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a display process formoving and displaying a device icon on a floor plan.

FIG. 75 is a diagram showing an example of an icon movement requesttransmitted in the case where a device icon for a refrigerator is moved.

FIG. 76 is a flowchart illustrating an icon position decision processperformed by the server.

FIG. 77 is a diagram showing an example of vertex information.

FIG. 78 is a diagram showing an example of room information.

FIG. 79 is a diagram showing the ion between each vertex registered inthe vertex information and the floor plan.

FIG. 80 is a diagram showing an example of a reference table in whichthe device type and the room type are correlated with each other.

FIG. 81 is a diagram showing transition of the display screen of thehome controller made in the case where the device icon for therefrigerator is moved.

FIG. 82 is a diagram showing transition of the display screen of thehome controller made in the case where the device icon for therefrigerator is moved and retained at a movement destination for morethan a predetermined time.

FIG. 83 is a diagram showing transition of the display screen of thehome controller made in the case where a device icon for a toilet deviceis moved.

FIG. 84 is a diagram showing transition of the display screen of thehome controller made in the case where a device icon for a water heateris moved.

FIG. 85 is a diagram showing an example of an icon movement requesttransmitted in the case where a device icon for a television set ismoved.

FIG. 86 is a diagram showing transition of the display screen of thehome controller made in the case where the device icon for thetelevision set is moved.

FIG. 87 is a diagram showing transition of the display screen of thehome controller made in the case where the device icon for therefrigerator is moved on a floor plan in another pattern.

FIG. 88 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a process performed bythe home controller to decide the arrangement position of the deviceicon after being moved on the floor plan.

FIG. 89 is a flowchart illustrating an icon position decision processperformed by the home controller.

FIG. 90A is a diagram showing an example of a first reference table inwhich the device ID and the device type name are correlated with eachother, FIG. 90B is a diagram showing an example of a second referencetable in which the room ID and the room type name are correlated witheach other, and FIG. 90C is a diagram showing an example of a thirdreference table in which the device ID and the room ID are correlatedwith each other.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(Story Before Inventing Aspect According to Present Disclosure)

First, the point of view of an aspect according to the presentdisclosure will be described.

Patent Literature 1 described above does not describe whether or not thestate display icon is movable on the display screen. If it is assumedthat the state display icon is freely movable on the display screen, itis unrecognizable which electric building material (such as a hallwaydoor or a skylight) a plurality of state display icons correspond to inthe case where a plurality of state display icons (21a, 21b, and 21c) ofdifferent types are being displayed, which makes the correlation betweenthe state display icons and the electric building materialsunrecognizable to incur a malfunction or an erroneous operation.

In Patent Literature 2 described above, meanwhile, an icon as a userinterface for controlling the illumination device or an icon as a userinterface for controlling the digital image frame is displayed on thedisplay screen. As with Patent Literature 1 described above, PatentLiterature 2 described above also does not describe whether or not theicon is movable on the display screen. If it is assumed that the icon isfreely movable on the display screen, it cannot be seen which device aplurality of icons correspond to in the case where a plurality of iconsof different types are being displayed, which makes the correlationbetween the icons and the devices unrecognizable to incur a malfunctionor an erroneous operation.

Thus, a further improvement has been required.

In view of the considerations described above, the inventors haveconceived embodiments according to various aspects to be describedbelow.

An aspect of the present disclosure provides

a method for controlling an information apparatus having a display andbeing connected to a network, one or more target devices beingcontrolled over the network,

the method causing a computer of the information apparatus to:

display on the display, a display screen representing at least a floorplan including one or more rooms;

using one or more memories that manage first information indicating eachtype of one or more device icons that represent the one or more targetdevices and second information indicating each attribute of the one ormore rooms, each type of the one or more device icons being associatedwith each attribute of the one or more rooms, display each of the one ormore device icons within a region on the display screen corresponding toa room in accordance with each type of the one or more device icons;

when selection of any of the one or more device icons is sensed in aregion corresponding to any of the one or more rooms included in thefloor plan, display on the display screen, a control screen for at leastoperating a target device corresponding to the selected device icon orconfirming a state of the corresponding target device; and

output to the network on the basis of an operation on the controlscreen, a control command for at least operating the correspondingtarget device or confirming the state of the corresponding targetdevice,

wherein the one or more device icons including a first-type device iconthat is movable to each of the one or more rooms, and a second-typedevice icon that is movable only within a region corresponding to apredetermined room associated with the type of the device icon among theone or more rooms, and

when movement of the second-type device icon is sensed, and in the casewhere it is judged that the second-type device icon is moved out of theregion corresponding to the predetermined room, a display control isperformed to return the second-type device icon to the regioncorresponding to the predetermined room.

According to the aspect, the one or more device icons include afirst-type device icon that is movable to each of the one or more rooms,and a second-type device icon that is movable only within a regioncorresponding to a predetermined room among the one or more rooms; andin the case where it is judged that the second-type device icon is movedout of the region corresponding to the predetermined room, displaycontrol is performed so as to return the second-type device icon to theregion corresponding to the predetermined room.

Consequently, in the case where the second-type device icon is a deviceicon that represents a refrigerator and the predetermined room is akitchen, for example, and in the case where it is judged that the deviceicon that represents the refrigerator is moved out of the regioncorresponding to the kitchen, display control is performed so as toreturn the device icon that represents the refrigerator to the regioncorresponding to the kitchen.

That is, the device icon and the room are correlated with each other inaccordance with the type of the device icon and the attribute of theroom. In addition, display control is performed such that the deviceicon is not displayed within a region corresponding to a room with anattribute that does not correspond to the type of the device icon on thebasis of the type of the device icon.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent the device icon from beingdisplayed in a region on the display screen corresponding to a room thatdoes not match the type of the device icon.

As a result, the display position of the device icon is limited on thebasis of the correlation between the type of the device icon and theattribute of the room. Thus, it is possible to prevent thecorrespondence between a plurality of device icons and devices frombecoming unrecognizable in the case where a plurality of device icons ofdifferent types are displayed, and to prevent the correlation betweenthe device icons and the target devices from becoming unrecognizable,which prevents a malfunction or an erroneous operation.

In the aspect described above, for example, when movement of thesecond-type device icon is sensed, and in the case where it may bejudged that an attribute of the predetermined room is a same attributeas a room to which the second-type device icon is moved, a displaycontrol may be performed to return the second-type device icon to theregion corresponding to the predetermined room.

In the aspect described above, for example, when it is sensed that thesecond-type device icon is kept to stay outside the region correspondingto the predetermined room for more than a predetermined time, displaycontrol may be performed to display the second-type device icon outsidethe region corresponding to the predetermined room.

According to the aspect, for example, in the case where the second-typedevice icon is a device icon that represents a refrigerator and thepredetermined room is a kitchen, the device icon that represents therefrigerator is displayed within the region corresponding to the kitchenwhen retention of the device icon that represents the refrigeratoroutside the region corresponding to the kitchen for more than thepredetermined time is sensed.

That is, in the case where retention of the device icon that representsthe refrigerator inside the region corresponding to the bedroom for morethan the predetermined time is sensed, for example, it can be judgedthat the device icon that represents the refrigerator is displayedwithin the region corresponding to the bedroom in accordance with theintention of the user, rather than in accordance with an erroneousoperation by the user. In this case, the device icon that represents therefrigerator is displayed within the region corresponding to the bedroomwith priority given to the intention of the user, rather than to thecorrelation between the type of the device icon and the attribute of theroom.

In the aspect described above, for example, when it is sensed that thesecond-type device icon to stay outside the region corresponding to thepredetermined room for the predetermined time or less, display controlmay be performed to return the second-type device icon to the regioncorresponding to the predetermined room.

In the aspect described above, for example, when it is sensed that thesecond-type device icon is released from keeping the second-type icon tostay outside the region corresponding to the predetermined room afterkeeping the second-type device icon to stay outside the correspondingregion for more than a predetermined time, display control may beperformed to display the second-type device icon outside the regioncorresponding to the predetermined room.

In the aspect described above, for example, in the case where it issensed that the second-type device icon is kept to stay outside theregion corresponding to the predetermined room for released is thepredetermined time or less until the second-type device icon isreleased, display control may be performed to return the second-typedevice icon to the region corresponding to the predetermined room.

In the aspect described above, for example, the second-type device iconmay include a device icon that represents a toilet device with a washingfunction; and the predetermined room may include a lavatory.

In the aspect described above, for example, the second-type device iconmay include a device icon that represents a water heater; and thepredetermined room may include a bathroom.

In the aspect described above, for example, the second-type device iconmay include a device icon that represents a refrigerator; and thepredetermined room may include a kitchen.

A different aspect of the present disclosure provides

a method for controlling an information apparatus having a display andbeing connected to a network, one or more target devices beingcontrolled over the network,

the method causing a computer of the information apparatus to:

display on the display, a display screen representing at least a floorplan including one or more rooms;

using one or more memories that manage first information indicating eachtype of one or more device icons that represent the one or more targetdevices and second information indicating each attribute of the one ormore rooms, each type of the one or more device icons being associatedwith each attribute of the one or more rooms, display each of the one ormore device icons within a region on the display screen corresponding toa room in accordance with each type of the one or more device icons;

when selection of any of the one or more device icons is sensed in aregion corresponding to any of the one or more rooms included in thefloor plan, display on the display screen, a control screen for at leastoperating a target device corresponding to the selected device icon orconfirming a state of the corresponding target device; and

output to the network on the basis of an operation on the controlscreen, a control command for at least operating the correspondingtarget device or confirming the state of the corresponding targetdevice,

wherein the one or more rooms including a specific room in which only adevice icon of a specific type is permitted to display among the one ormore device icons, and

when movement of a device icon of a different type other than the deviceicon of the specific type is sensed, and in the case where it is judgedthat the device icon of the different type is moved to a regioncorresponding to the specific room, a display control is performed movethe device icon of the different type out of the region corresponding tothe specific room.

According to the aspect, the one or more rooms include a specific roomthat permits display of only a device icon of a specific type among theone or more device icons, and in the case where it is judged that adevice icon of a different type other than the device icon of thespecific type is moved to the region corresponding to the specific room,display control is performed so as to move the device icon of thedifferent type out of the region corresponding to the specific room.

Consequently, in the case where the device icon of the different type isa device icon that represents a television set and the specific room isa lavatory, for example, and in the case where it is judged that thedevice icon that represents the television set is moved to the regioncorresponding to the lavatory, the device icon that represents thetelevision set is moved out of the region corresponding to the lavatory.

That is, the device icon and the room are correlated with each other inaccordance with the type of the device icon and the attribute of theroom. In addition, display control is performed such that the deviceicon is not displayed within a region corresponding to a room with anattribute that does not correspond to the type of the device icon on thebasis of the type of the device icon.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent the device icon from beingdisplayed in a region on the display screen corresponding to a room thatdoes not match the type of the device icon.

As a result, the display position of the device icon is limited on thebasis of the correlation between the type of the device icon and theattribute of the room. Thus, it is possible to prevent thecorrespondence between a plurality of device icons and devices frombecoming unrecognizable in the case where a plurality of device icons ofdifferent types are displayed, and to prevent the correlation betweenthe device icons and the target devices from becoming unrecognizable,which prevents a malfunction or an erroneous operation.

In the different aspect described above, for example, when movement ofthe device icon of the different type is sensed, and in the case whereit may be judged that an attribute of the specific room is a sameattribute as a room to which the device icon of the different type ismoved, a display control may be performed to move the device icon of thedifferent type out of the region corresponding to the specific room.

In the different aspect described above, for example, when it is sensedthat the device icon of the different type is kept to stay inside theregion corresponding to the specific room for more than a predeterminedtime, a display control may be performed to display the device icon ofthe different type within the region corresponding to the specific room.

According to the aspect, for example, in the case where the device iconof the different type is a device icon that represents a television setand the specific room is a lavatory, the device icon that represents thetelevision set is displayed within the region corresponding to thelavatory when retention of the device icon that represents thetelevision set inside the region corresponding to the lavatory for morethan the predetermined time is sensed.

That is, in the case where retention of the device icon that representsthe television set inside the region corresponding to the lavatory formore than the predetermined time is sensed, for example, it can bejudged that the device icon that represents the television set isdisplayed within the region corresponding to the lavatory in accordancewith the intention of the user, rather than in accordance with anerroneous operation by the user. In this case, the device icon thatrepresents the television set is displayed within the regioncorresponding to the lavatory with priority given to the intention ofthe user, rather than to the correlation between the type of the deviceicon and the attribute of the room.

In the different aspect described above, for example, in the case whereit is sensed that the device icon of the different type is kept to stayinside the region corresponding to the specific room for thepredetermined time or less, a display control may be performed to movethe device icon of the different type out of the region corresponding tothe specific room.

In the different aspect described above, for example, when it is sensedthat the device icon of the different type is released from keeping thedevice icon of the different type to stay inside the regioncorresponding to the specific room after keeping the device icon of thedifferent type to stay inside the corresponding region for more than apredetermined time, a display control may be performed to display thedevice icon of the different type within the region corresponding to thespecific room.

In the different aspect described above, for example, in the case whereit is sensed that the device icon of the different type is kept to stayinside the region corresponding to the specific room for thepredetermined time or less until the device icon of the different typeis released, a display control may be performed to move the device iconof the different type out of the region corresponding to the specificroom.

In the different aspect described above, for example, the device icon ofthe specific type may include a device icon that represents a toiletdevice with a washing function; and the specific room may include alavatory.

In the different aspect described above, for example, the device icon ofthe specific type may include a device icon that represents a waterheater; and the specific room may include a bathroom.

In the different aspect described above, for example, the device icon ofthe specific type may include a device icon that represents arefrigerator; and the specific room may include a kitchen.

A different aspect of the present disclosure provides

a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium which stores aprogram to be executed by an information apparatus having a display andbeing connected to a network, one or more target devices beingcontrolled over the network,

the program causing a computer of the information apparatus to:

display on the display, a display screen representing at least a floorplan including one or more rooms;

using one or more memories that manage first information indicating eachtype of one or more device icons that represent the one or more targetdevices and second information indicating each attribute of the one ormore rooms, each type of the one or more device icon being associatedwith each attribute of the one or more rooms, display each of the one ormore device icons within a region on the display screen corresponding toa room in accordance with each type of the one or more device icons;

when selection of any of the one or more device icons is sensed in aregion corresponding to any of the one or more rooms included in thefloor plan, display on the display screen, a control screen for at leastoperating a target device corresponding to the selected device icon orconfirming a state of the corresponding target device; and

output to the network on the basis of an operation on the controlscreen, a control command for at least operating the correspondingtarget device or confirming the state of the corresponding targetdevice,

wherein the one or more device icons including a first-type device iconthat is movable to each of the one or more rooms, and a second-typedevice icon that is movable only within a region corresponding to apredetermined room associated with the type of the device icon among theone or more rooms, and

when movement of the second-type device icon is sensed, and in the casewhere it is judged that the second-type device icon is moved out of theregion corresponding to the predetermined room, a display control isperformed to return the second-type device icon to the regioncorresponding to the predetermined room.

A different aspect of the present disclosure provides

a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium which stores aprogram to be executed by an information apparatus having a display andbeing connected to a network, one or more target devices beingcontrolled over the network,

the program causing a computer of the information apparatus to:

display on the display, a display screen representing at least a floorplan including one or more rooms;

using one or more memories that manage first information indicating eachtype of one or more device icons that represent the one or more targetdevices and second information indicating each attribute of the one ormore rooms, each type of the one or more device icons being associatedwith each attribute of the one or more rooms, display each of the one ormore device icons within a region on the display screen corresponding toa room in accordance with each type of the one or more device icons;

when selection of any of the one or more device icons is sensed in aregion corresponding to any of the rooms included in the floor plan,display on the display screen, a control screen for at least operating atarget device corresponding to the selected device icon or confirming astate of the corresponding target device; and

output to the network on the basis of an operation on the controlscreen, a control command for at least operating the correspondingtarget device or confirming the state of the corresponding targetdevice,

wherein the one or more rooms including a specific room in which only adevice icon of a specific type is permitted to display among the one ormore device icons, and

when movement of a device icon of a different type other than the deviceicon of the specific type is sensed, and in the case where it is judgedthat the device icon of the different type is moved to a regioncorresponding to the specific room, a display control is performed tomove the device icon of the different type out of the regioncorresponding to the specific room.

(The Present Disclosure)

The present disclosure will be described below with reference to thedrawings. In the drawings, the same symbols are used for the sameconstituent elements.

In the present disclosure, a home controller which can singly controlone or more devices will be described.

(Overall Configuration)

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a home controlsystem to which a home controller according to the present disclosure isapplied. As shown in FIG. 1, the home control system includes a homecontroller 100, a device 200 (an example of a target device), and aserver 300.

The home controller 100 and one or more devices 200 (for example, adevice A 200 and a device B 200) are disposed in a house. The server 300is disposed in a cloud center. The home controller 100, the device 200,and the server 300 communicate with each other via a wired or wirelessnetwork. For example, the device 200 and the home controller 100 arecommunicably connected to each other via a wireless or wired in-homenetwork, and the home controller 100, the device 200, and the server 300are communicably connected to each other via an external network such asthe Internet.

The home controller 100 is not necessarily disposed in the house, andmay be disposed outside the house. In this case, a user controls the oneor more devices 200 from a location away from the home.

A portable information terminal such as a smartphone or a tabletterminal may be adopted as the home controller 100. It should be noted,however, that the smartphone and the tablet terminal are merelyexemplary, and a portable information terminal of a button type such asa cellular phone may be adopted as the home controller 100.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the main devices 200 to be controlled by thehome controller 100. The home controller 100 controls the devices 200such as an air conditioner 201, illumination devices 202 and 203, a bath204, a refrigerator 205, a washing machine 206, a toilet 207, and acurtain 208. The devices 200 to be controlled by the home controller 100may include a plurality of devices 200 of the same type such as theillumination devices 202 and 203.

The devices 200 such as the air conditioner 201 shown in FIG. 2 aremerely exemplary, and a television set, a Blu-ray recorder, an audiodevice, and so forth may be adopted as the devices 200. That is, anyelectrical device that functions to communicate with the home controller100 may be adopted as the device 200. In FIG. 2, electrical devices foruse in ordinary households are shown as the devices 200. However, thepresent disclosure is not limited thereto, and office devices for use inoffices or the like may be adopted as the devices 200. Examples of theoffice devices include a printer, a personal computer, a scanner, and acopy machine.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the homecontroller 100, the device 200, and the server 300. As shown in FIG. 3,the home controller 100 includes a display 101, a touch panel controlsection 102, a display control section 103, a storage section 104, adevice management section 105, a device control section 106, and acommunication control section 107.

The display 101 is formed from a touch panel display, for example, anddisplays a user interface that allows the user to operate the homecontroller 100. The user can input various operations to the homecontroller 100 by contacting the display 101.

The touch panel control section 102 recognizes an operation performed onthe display 101 by the user, interprets the content of the operation,and notifies the other constituent elements of the content of theoperation. For example, if an object is displayed at a position on thedisplay 101 tapped on by the user, the touch panel control section 102determines that the object is selected by the user. A variety of GUIparts that receive a user operation such as buttons are adopted as theobject.

The display control section 103 generates a GUI (Graphical UserInterface) of the home controller 100, and causes the display 101 todisplay the GUI. The storage section 104 stores information that isnecessary for operation of the home controller 100 such as a device listmanaged by the device management section 105.

The device management section 105 manages the control target devices 200using the device list stored in the storage section 104. In addition,the device management section 105 detects a device 200 when the device200 is connected to the in-home network. Further, the device managementsection 105 acquires home information 2700 to be discussed later fromthe server 300, stores the acquired home information 2700 in the storagesection 104, and manages the home information 2700. The device controlsection 106 issues a control command for the devices 200. Thecommunication control section 107 controls communication between thehome controller 100 and the devices 200 and communication between thehome controller 100 and the server 300. In addition, the communicationcontrol section 107 transmits a variety of data to the devices 200 orthe server 300 upon receiving a request to transmit such data from otherblocks, and receives data transmitted from the devices 200 or the server300 to deliver the data to the relevant block.

The display 101 may be a normal display rather than a touch paneldisplay. In this case, the user may use an external input device such asa mouse (not shown) to input an instruction to select an object bymoving a pointer displayed on the display 101 and clicking on a desiredobject. That is, in the present disclosure, a series of operationsperformed by the user by contacting the display 101 may be replaced withoperations of moving a pointer and clicking using an external inputdevice such as a mouse.

As shown in FIG. 3, the device 200 includes a control execution section201, a state management section 202, a storage section 204, and acommunication control section 207. The control execution section 201receives a control command from the home controller 100 or the server300, and controls the device 200 in accordance with the received controlcommand. The content of control of the device 200 performed by thecontrol execution section 201 differs in accordance with the type of thedevice 200. For example, if the device 200 is an illumination device,the control execution section 201 turns on and off the illuminationdevice. In addition, the control execution section 201 transmits theresult of execution of the control command and the state of the device200 to the home controller 100 or the server 300.

The state management section 202 manages the state of the device 200.The content of management of the device 200 performed by the statemanagement section 202 differs in accordance with the type of the device200. For example, if the device 200 is an illumination device, the statemanagement section 202 manages whether the illumination device iscurrently turned on or turned off. The storage section 204 storesinformation related to the state of the device 200 managed by the statemanagement section 202. The communication control section 207 controlscommunication between the device 200 and the home controller 100 andcommunication between the device 200 and the server 300. In addition,the communication control section 207 transmits a variety of data to thehome controller 100 or the server 300 upon receiving a request totransmit such data from other blocks, and receives data transmitted fromthe home controller 100 or the server 300 to deliver the data to therelevant block.

As shown in FIG. 3, the server 300 includes a home informationmanagement section 301, a device control section 302, a storage section304, and a communication control section 307. The home informationmanagement section 301 manages the home information 2700 to be discussedlater for each house or each user account. In addition, the homeinformation management section 301 transmits the home information 2700to the home controller 100 in response to a request from the homecontroller 100. Further, the home information management section 301acquires log information related to the use history of the device 200and information related to the state of the device 200 from the device200, stores the acquired information in the storage section 304, andmanages the information.

The device control section 302 transmits a control command to the device200 in response to a request from the home controller 100. The storagesection 304 stores information that is necessary for operation of theserver 300 such as the home information 2700 and the information relatedto the state of the device 200 managed by the home informationmanagement section 301. The communication control section 307 controlscommunication between the server 300 and the home controller 100 andcommunication between the server 300 and the device 200 as with thecommunication control section 107. In addition, the communicationcontrol section 307 transmits a variety of data to the home controller100 or the device 200 upon receiving a request to transmit such datafrom other blocks, and receives data transmitted from the homecontroller 100 or the device 200 to deliver the data to the relevantblock.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the form ofimplementation of the home controller 100. As shown in FIG. 4, the homecontroller 100 includes an application 401, an OS (Operating System)402, a memory 403, and other hardware (not shown).

The application 401 is application software for causing the portableinformation terminal to function as the home controller 100, and isexecuted by a processor of the home controller 100. The home controller100 may read the application 401 from a computer readable recordingmedium to implement the application 401, or may download the application401 from a network to implement the application 401. The OS 402 is basicsoftware of the portable information terminal, and is executed by theprocessor of the home controller 100. The memory 403 is formed from astorage device such as a RAM and a ROM of the home controller 100, andstores a group of data included in the application 401. The processor ofthe home controller 100 executes the application 401 to embody thefunctions of the touch panel control section 102, the display controlsection 103, the storage section 104, the device management section 105,the device control section 106, and the communication control section107 shown in FIG. 3. In addition, the processor of the home controller100 executes the application 401 to cause the memory 403 to function asthe storage section 104.

It should be noted, however, that in the present disclosure, the homecontroller 100 may be implemented by the application 401 alone, may beimplemented by the application 401 and the OS 402, may be implemented bythe application 401, the OS 402, and the memory 403, or may beimplemented by the application 401, the OS 402, the memory 403, andother hardware (not shown). In any present disclosure, the homecontroller 100 according to the present disclosure can be embodied. Inthe present disclosure, the processor and the storage device forming theportable information terminal, for example, form a computer. One of aCPU, an FPGA, and an ASIC or a combination of two or more of these maybe adopted as the processor. One of a ROM, a RAM, and a hard disk or acombination of two or more of these may be adopted as the storagedevice.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of a basic screen of thehome controller 100. As shown in FIG. 5, the basic screen of the homecontroller 100 displayed on the display 101 include a floor plan 500,device icons 501, and a device list display change button 503. The floorplan 500 is a plan view that planarly represents the arrangement and theshape of one or more rooms forming each floor of a house. In the casewhere the house has one or more floors, the floor plan 500 is preparedfor each floor. For example, in the case where the house has two floors,two floor plans 500, namely a floor plan 601 for the first floor and afloor plan 602 for the second floor, are displayed on the display 101 asshown in FIG. 6.

The device icon 501 is an icon displayed as overlapped on the floor plan500 and representing the device 200. When the touch panel controlsection 102 senses a tap on the device icon 501 performed by the user,the display control section 103 causes the display 101 to display adevice control screen 502 to be discussed later. This allows the user tocontrol the device 200 by operating the device control screen 502.

The device icon 501 is prepared for each device 200. The display controlsection 103 disposes the device icon 501 on the floor plan 500 on thebasis of the actual arrangement of the device 200 within the house.Information as to at what position on the floor plan 500 the device icon501 is to be disposed is registered in an arrangement 3104 of a devicelist 3100 to be discussed later. Here, a position on the floor plan 500corresponding to the actual arrangement position of the device 200 isregistered in the arrangement 3104. Thus, the display control section103 can dispose the device icon 501 at a position on the floor plan 500corresponding to the actual arrangement position of the device 200 bydisposing the device icon 501 at the position registered in thearrangement 3104 of the device list 3100.

In the floor plan 500 shown in FIG. 5, one floor is partitioned into aplurality of rooms by partition lines that indicate partitions betweenthe rooms. This allows the user to recognize what device 200 is disposedin what room at a glance.

In the example of FIG. 5, in addition, schematic images of furniturepieces are displayed at positions on the floor plan 500 corresponding tothe actual arrangement positions of the furniture pieces. An image thatindicates the movable range of a door is displayed at a position on thefloor plan 500 corresponding to the actual arrangement position of thedoor. An image of a staircase is displayed at a position on the floorplan 500 corresponding to the actual arrangement position of thestaircase. This allows the user to recognize the positions of thefurniture pieces disposed in each room and the positions of thestaircase and the doors on the floor.

The button with a text “TO LIST UI” displayed at the lower right of thebasic screen is the device list display change button 503, which is abutton for switching the screen display from the basic screen to adevice list display screen to be discussed later (see FIG. 24). When thetouch panel control section 102 senses a tap on the device list displaychange button 503 performed by the user, the display control section 103switches the screen display on the display 101 from the basic screen tothe device list display screen. It should be noted, however, that thedisplay control section 103 may hide the device list display changebutton 503 in the case where a registration is made in the homecontroller 100 in advance that the device list display screen is notutilized.

In the foregoing description, one device icon 501 is correlated with onedevice 200. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, andone device icon 501 may be correlated with a plurality of devices 200 sothat the one device icon 501 may be used in common to the plurality ofdevices 200. For example, in the case where there are two illuminationdevices in a living room, the two illumination devices may berepresented by one device icon 501.

In this case, when the device icon 501 representing the two illuminationdevices is tapped on by the user, the display control section 103 causesthe display 101 to display a device control screen 502 that allowssimultaneous control of the two illumination devices. This allows theuser to control the two illumination devices at the same time. Aplurality of illumination devices are often disposed in a large roomsuch as the living room. In the case where the user turns on or off theillumination devices in the living room, the user often turns on or offall the illumination devices disposed in the living room, rather thanturning on or off some of the illumination devices. In this case, if itis possible to collectively turn on or off all the illumination devices,the number of operations to be performed by the user can be reduced.Thus, one device icon 501 may be correlated with a plurality of devices200 that are highly likely to be operated by the user at the same timeto cause one device control screen 502 to be displayed.

In the case where the device icon 501 represents a plurality of devices200, the display control section 103 may display the device icon 501 ata position on the floor plan 500 corresponding to the actual arrangementposition of one of the devices 200. Alternatively, the display controlsection 103 may display the device icon 501 representing the pluralityof devices 200 at a predetermined location of a room in which theplurality of devices 200 are disposed.

In order to dispose the device icon 501 on the floor plan 500 on thebasis of the actual arrangement of the device 200 within the house, theuser moves the device icon 501 to an appropriate position on the floorplan 500. The user can move the device icon 501 to a desired position bydragging the device icon 501 while holding down the device icon 501.These operations are executed at the timing when the device icon 501 isadded such as when the home controller 100 is initially utilized andwhen a new device 200 is purchased.

Specifically, when the touch panel control section 102 senses a drag onthe device icon 501, the device management section 105 registers theposition on the floor plan 500 of the device icon 501 after the movementin the arrangement 3104 of the device list 3100 to be discussed later.This allows a position on the floor plan 500 corresponding to the actualarrangement position of the device 200 to be registered in thearrangement 3104.

The initial display position of the device icon 501 may be determined inadvance by the system, and may be a predetermined position outside thedisplay region of the floor plan 500 or a predetermined position withina predetermined room on the floor plan 500, for example. The method ofdisposing the device icon 501 on the floor plan 500 on the basis of theactual arrangement of the device 200 within the house is not limitedthereto, and the method described below may be used.

As shown in FIGS. 7, 8, and 9, some floor plans 500 include arrangementinformation for the device icons 501. For example, in the example of thefloor plan 500 of FIG. 7, texts that indicate the type of the devices200 represented by the device icons 501 to be disposed are provided atpositions at which the device icons 501 are to be disposed. In theexample of the floor plan 500 of FIG. 8, images that indicate the typeof the devices 200 represented by the device icons 501 to be disposedare provided at positions at which the device icons 501 are to bedisposed. In the example of the floor plan 500 of FIG. 9, simplifiedimages such as circles and rectangles that indicate the type of thedevices 200 represented by the device icons 501 to be disposed areprovided at positions at which the device icons 501 are to be disposed.

Consequently, in the case where the floor plan 500 includes arrangementinformation for the device icons 501, the display control section 103may generate the basic screen of FIG. 5 by automatically disposing thedevice icons 501 on the floor plan 500 on the basis of the arrangementinformation included in the floor plan 500. In this case, it is notnecessary for the user to perform an operation of moving the deviceicons 501 to appropriate positions on the floor plan 500.

For example, in an exemplary floor plan 4401 for the first floor of FIG.7, the display control section 103 detects a position provided with atext “TELEVISION SET”, automatically disposes the device icon 501 forthe television set at the detected position, and registers the detectedposition in the arrangement 3104 of the device list 3100.

In an exemplary floor plan 4501 for the first floor of FIG. 8, thedisplay control section 103 detects a position provided with an imagefor the “television set”, automatically disposes the device icon 501 forthe television set at the detected position, and registers the detectedposition in the arrangement 3104 of the device list 3100. In anexemplary floor plan 4601 for the first floor of FIG. 9, the displaycontrol section 103 detects a position provided with an image in theshape of a “circle filled with oblique lines”, automatically disposesthe device icon 501 for the television set at the detected position, andregisters the detected position in the arrangement 3104 of the devicelist 3100.

The display control section 103 may detect the display position ofarrangement information by recognizing the arrangement informationincluded in the floor plan 500 using a text recognition technology or animage recognition technology commonly utilized.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a method of switching the floordisplay on the basic screen of the home controller 100. FIG. 10illustrates a case where the house has two floors, namely the firstfloor and the second floor. With a floor plan 601 for the first floordisplayed on the basic screen of the home controller 100, the touchpanel control section 102 senses a tap on a staircase region 603 on thefirst floor performed by the user. Then, the display control section 103switches the floor display on the basic screen from the first floor tothe second floor. Similarly, with a floor plan 602 for the second floordisplayed on the basic screen of the home controller 100, the touchpanel control section 102 senses a tap on a staircase region 604 on thesecond floor performed by the user. Then, the display control section103 switches the floor display on the basic screen from the second floorto the first floor.

Here, the touch panel control section 102 may judge that the staircaseregion 603 is tapped on if the position tapped on by the user ispositioned within a region surrounded by four vertexes of a staircaseregistered in a room type 2902 of room information 2900 (see FIG. 32).

Further, the floor display may be switched by not only tapping on thestaircase region 603 but also a swipe operation on the display 101. Withthe floor plan 601 for the first floor displayed on the basic screen ofthe home controller 100, the touch panel control section 102 senses aswipe operation performed from the right to the left on the display 101by the user. Then, the display control section 103 switches the floordisplay on the basic screen from the first floor to the second floor.Similarly, with the floor plan 602 for the second floor displayed on thebasic screen of the home controller 100, the touch panel control section102 senses a swipe operation performed from the left to the right on thedisplay 101 by the user. Then, the display control section 103 switchesthe floor display on the basic screen from the second floor to the firstfloor. The floor display may be switched by a swipe operation in thevertical direction.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of the display state ofthe device control screen 502 of the home controller 100. In the basicscreen shown in FIG. 5, when the touch panel control section 102 sensesthat the user selects the device icon 501, the display control section103 causes the display 101 to display the device control screen 502corresponding to the selected device icon 501. The device control screen502 is a control screen that is specific to each device 200 and thatallows control or confirmation of the state of the device 200. Forexample, in FIG. 11, a device icon 801 for the air conditioner isselected by the user, and the temperature setting and the air flowdirection are controlled using the device control screen 502 for the airconditioner.

An image of the air conditioner is displayed in the device controlscreen 502 to allow the user to immediately recognize that the devicecontrol screen 502 corresponds to the air conditioner. This prevents anerroneous operation. An image that indicates the air flow direction isdisplayed on the lower side of the image of the air conditioner to allowthe user to select a desired air flow direction by repeatedly tapping onthe image, for example. A numeral displayed within the device controlscreen 502 indicates the current set temperature of the air conditioner.A button in the shape of a triangle that points upward in the devicecontrol screen 502 is a temperature increase button. A button in theshape of a triangle that points downward is a temperature decreasebutton. Pressing the temperature increase button once increases the settemperature of the air conditioner by a predetermined temperature (forexample, 0.5 degrees). Pressing the temperature decrease button oncedecreases the set temperature of the air conditioner by a predeterminedtemperature (for example, 0.5 degrees).

Examples of the method of disposing the device icons 501 in the displaystate of the device control screen 502 include the following methods.

A first method is to dispose the device icons 501 outside the displayregion of the device control screen 502 as shown in FIG. 11. When thetouch panel control section 102 senses that a certain device icon 501 istapped on by the user, the display control section 103 disposes all thedevice icons 501 at locations outside the display region of the devicecontrol screen 502 and inside the display region of the display 101irrespective of whether or not the locations are inside the displayregion of the floor plan 500. In the example of FIG. 11, the deviceicons 501 are disposed in an elliptical arrangement so as to surroundthe device control screen 502. That is, when a certain device icon 501is selected by the user and the device control screen 502 for the device200 corresponding to the device icon 501 is displayed, the displaycontrol section 103 retracts all the device icons 501 out of the displayregion of the device control screen 502.

This prevents the device icons 501 from being hidden by the devicecontrol screen 502. Therefore, in the case where the device controlscreen 502 for a device 200 is currently displayed and the user attemptsto cause the device control screen 502 for another device 200 to bedisplayed, it is not necessary for the user to temporarily erase thecurrently displayed device control screen 502 and search for the deviceicon 501 for the relevant device 200.

Here, the display control section 103 may decide the arrangementposition of each device icon 501 on the outer periphery of an ellipsehaving a shape determined in advance in accordance with the size of thedevice control screen 502, and dispose the device icon 501 at thedecided position, for example. Examples of the method of deciding thearrangement position include a method of arranging all the device icons501 as display targets at equal intervals on the outer periphery of anellipse, and a method of disposing the device icons 501 such that theangles formed by lines connecting between adjacent device icons 501 andthe center of an ellipse are equal to each other. Alternatively, thedisplay control section 103 may divide the outer periphery of an ellipseinto four sections corresponding to the upper, lower, left, and rightportions of the device control screen 502, and dispose the device icons501 such that the number of device icons 501 in each section is the sameand the device icons 501 in each section are arranged at equalintervals. The device icon 501 disposed at the closest position on thefloor plan 500 may be disposed at the decided arrangement position.

In the foregoing description, the device icons 501 are arranged in anelliptical arrangement. However, the present disclosure is not limitedthereto, and the device icons 501 may be arranged in a circulararrangement. Also in this case, the arrangement position of the deviceicons 501 may be decided using the same method as in the case where thedevice icons 501 are arranged in an elliptical arrangement. Otherexamples of the shape of arrangement of the device icons 501 used whenthe device icons 501 are retracted out of the display region of thedevice control screen 502 include polygonal arrangements such astriangular, rectangular, and pentagonal arrangements.

A second method is to dispose the device icons 501 in one line outsidethe display region of the device control screen 502 and the floor plan500 and inside the display region of the display 101 as shown in FIG.13. When the touch panel control section 102 senses that a certaindevice icon 501 is tapped on by the user, the display control section103 disposes all the device icons 501 in one vertical line on the leftside of the display region of the floor plan 500. That is, the displaycontrol section 103 retracts all the device icons 501 to a vacant spaceoutside the display region of the floor plan 500 and inside the displayregion of the display 101.

In FIG. 13, the device icons 501 are disposed on the left side of thefloor plan 500. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto,and the device icons 501 may be disposed in one vertical line on theright side of the floor plan 500, or may be disposed in one horizontalline on the upper or lower side of the floor plan 500.

In the case where all the device icons 501 cannot be disposed on theleft side of the floor plan 500, the display control section 103 mayscroll the device icons 501 upward or downward in accordance with aswipe operation performed upward or downward on the device icons 501disposed in one vertical line on the left side to cause the device icons501, which have been hidden, to be displayed within the display 101.

This allows the device icons 501, which have been hidden, to bedisplayed within the display 101 to allow the user to select the deviceicons 501. In the case where the device icons 501 are displayed in onehorizontal line and all the device icons 501 may not displayed, thedisplay control section 103 may scroll the device icons 501 leftward orrightward in accordance with a swipe operation performed leftward orrightward on the device icons 501 disposed in one horizontal line tocause the device icons 501, which have been hidden, to be displayedwithin the display 101.

In the display state of the device control screen 502, the displaycontrol section 103 may display the device icon 501 selected by the userin a display mode that is different from that for the unselected deviceicons 501. This allows the user to easily recognize the selected deviceicon 501.

For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the display control section 103 maydisplay the selected device icon 801 in a color that is different fromthat of the other unselected device icons 501. Specifically, the displaycontrol section 103 may display a background portion of the selecteddevice icon 501 in a color that is different from that of backgroundportions of the unselected device icons 501. It should be noted,however, that such a display mode is merely exemplary, and the displaycontrol section 103 may make the selected device icon 501 brighter thanthe unselected device icons 501, may make the selected device icon 501denser than the unselected device icons 501, or may cause the selecteddevice icon 501 to flash on and off at a constant cycle.

In the display state of the device control screen 502, the device icon501 selected by the user may be disposed as distinguished from theunselected device icons 501. This allows the user to easily recognizethe selected device icon 501.

For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the display control section 103 maydispose a selected device icon 901 at the uppermost position on theouter periphery of an ellipse. Besides, for example, the display controlsection 103 may dispose the selected device icon 501 at a particularposition (for example, the lowermost position, the rightmost position,or the leftmost position) on the outer periphery of an ellipse. In anyevent, the display control section 103 may dispose the device icon 501selected by the user at a particular location that is easilyrecognizable by the user.

Besides, for example, as shown in FIG. 14, the display control section103 may scroll an array of the device icons 501 such that a selecteddevice icon 1101 is disposed within the display region of the display101. In the example of FIG. 14, the device icons 501 are scrolled suchthat the selected device icon 1101 is disposed at the center of a lineof icons displayed in one vertical line on the left side of the floorplan 500. This allows the user to easily recognize the selected deviceicon 501. Although the device icon 1101 is disposed at the center of theline of icons in FIG. 14, the device icon 1101 may be disposed at anyother conspicuous position. For example, the device icon 1101 may bedisposed at the top or bottom position of the line of icons.

The order of arrangement of the device icons 501 taken when the deviceicons 501 are retracted out of the display region of the floor plan 500may be determined such that devices 200 that are closer in position ofarrangement on the floor plan 500 to the device icon 501 selected by theuser are disposed to be closer in order of arrangement to the selecteddevice icon 501. Alternatively, the order of arrangement of the deviceicons 501 may be determined such that the device icons 501 for devices200 that are more likely to be used together with the device 200selected by the user are disposed to be closer in order of arrangementto the device icon 501 for the device 200 selected by the user. Forexample, the television set and the Blu-ray recorder are highly likelyto be used together by the user. Therefore, when the device icon 501 forthe television set is selected by the user, the device icon 501 for theBlu-ray recorder may be displayed next to the device icon 501 for thetelevision set. In order to embody such a configuration, a table thatindicates combinations of devices 200 that are highly likely to be usedtogether may be stored in advance in the storage section 104, and thearrangement of the device icons 501 may be decided in accordance withthe table.

In any of the methods of disposing the device icons 501 taken when thedevice control screen 502 is displayed described above, in addition, thedisplay control section 103 may dispose the device icons 501 as groupedunder particular conditions.

For example, in FIG. 15, the device icons 501 are grouped in accordancewith the location at which the devices 200 are disposed. The devices 200disposed in the living room are grouped as device icons 1201. Thedevices 200 disposed in a lavatory are grouped as device icons 1202. Thedevices 200 disposed in a bedroom are grouped as device icons 1203.Then, the display order is set to each group, and the grouped deviceicons 501 are disposed in one vertical line on the left side of thefloor plan 500 in accordance with the display order. The display orderof the groups may be determined such that groups that are positionedcloser to the room in which the device 200 selected by the user isdisposed are closer in display order to the group for the room in whichthe device 200 selected by the user is disposed.

Besides, the display control section 103 may dispose the device icons501 as grouped in accordance with the type of the devices 200. Forexample, in FIG. 16, two device icons 501 for the television set aredisposed on the left side of the floor plan 500 as grouped as deviceicons 2301, and two device icons 501 for the air conditioner aredisposed on the left side of the floor plan 500 as grouped as deviceicons 2302 for the air conditioner. Consequently, the display controlsection 103 may group the device icons 501 in accordance with the devicetype by disposing the device icons 501 for the devices 200 of the sametype to be continuous.

The display control section 103 may discriminate the type of the devices200 in accordance with the content registered in a device type 3102 ofthe device list 3100 (see FIG. 35).

Although the device icons 501 for the devices 200 of the same type aregrouped into one group in the foregoing description, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the display controlsection 103 may classify the devices 200 into categories matching thedevice type, group the device icons 501 in accordance with the category,and dispose the device icons 501 on the left side of the floor plan 500in groups.

For example, as shown in the lower left of FIG. 16, three device icons501 for the refrigerator, a microwave oven, and a dish washing/dryingmachine are classified into a cooking device category, and therefore thethree device icons are grouped as device icons 2303 for the cookingdevices and disposed on the left side of the floor plan 500.

Examples of the other categories include entertainment devices andair-conditioning devices. The entertainment device category includesdevices 200 such as a television set, a recorder, a player, and a hometheater system. The air-conditioning device category includes devices200 such as an air conditioner, an air purifier, a humidifier, adehumidifier, and a home air circulation system.

For example, if the device icons 501 for the television set, therecorder, the air conditioner, and the air purifier are disposed on thefloor plan 500 and the device icon 501 for the television set isselected by the user, the device icons 501 for the television set andthe recorder classified into the entertainment device category aregrouped into one group and disposed on the left side of the floor plan500, and the device icons 501 for the air conditioner and the airpurifier classified into the air-conditioning device category aregrouped into one group and disposed on the left side of the floor plan500.

The display control section 103 may determine the category of thedevices 200 from the content registered in the device type 3102 of thedevice list 3100. In this case, a classification table for determiningthe category of the devices 200 from the content registered in thedevice type 3102 may be stored in advance in the storage section 104,and the display control section 103 may reference the classificationtable to discriminate the category of the devices 200.

A variety of manners of classifying the devices 200 according to thedevice type may be adopted besides that described above. For example, asshown in FIG. 24, the devices 200 may be classified into householdappliance, air-conditioning, and facility categories.

The method of grouping the device icons 501 on the basis of particularconditions and disposing the device icons 501 as described above mayalso be applied to the display mode in which the device icons 501 areretracted so as to surround the device control screen 502 as shown inFIG. 11.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are each a diagram showing a method of displaying thefloor plan 500 with the device control screen 502 displayed. As shown inFIGS. 17A and 17B, there are two types of the method of displaying thefloor plan 500. In a first display method, as shown in FIG. 17A, theentire floor plan 500 is covered by a translucent gray layer (in thedrawing, indicated by dots).

In this case, the background of the device control screen 502 is turnedinto a gray color to emphasize the device control screen 502, whichallows the user to more definitely recognize the device control screen502. In addition, the gray layer is translucent, and the floor plan 500is not completely hidden. This allows the device control screen 502 tobe operated with presence. The gray layer is image data having a colorwith low brightness such as gray and set to predetermined transparency.

The display control section 103 may decide the display order of thedevice control screen 502, the gray layer, and the floor plan 500 suchthat the device control screen 502 is the uppermost layer and the floorplan 500 is the lowermost layer, and synthesize these images. Thisprevents the device control screen 502 from being displayed as coveredby the gray layer.

In a second display method, as shown in FIG. 17B, a non-control targetregion 1302 in the floor plan 500 is covered by a translucent gray layer(the region with dots in the drawing), and a control target region 1301is not covered by the translucent gray layer. This allows the user tooperate the device control screen 502 while being conscious of thecontrol target region 1301, which allows operation with presence. Here,the control target region 1301 refers to a region on the floor plan 500that corresponds to a room in which the device 200 represented by thedevice icon 501 selected by the user is disposed, and the non-controltarget region 1302 refers to a region on the floor plan 500 other thanthe room. For example, in the case where the control target device isthe air conditioner installed in the living room, the control targetregion 1301 is the region on the floor plan 500 corresponding to theliving room, and the non-control target region 1302 is the region on thefloor plan 500 other than the living room.

For example, it is assumed that the user selects the device icon 501 forthe air conditioner with a device ID 3101 of A shown in FIG. 35. In thiscase, the display control section 103 specifies the position (X10, Y100,Z1) of the air conditioner from the content registered in thearrangement 3104 of the air conditioner. Next, the display controlsection 103 references the room information 2900 to decide in which roomthe specified position (X10, Y100, Z1) is positioned. Here, it isassumed that the position (X10, Y100, Z1) is positioned within a regionsurrounded by vertexes with vertex IDs of F, G, H, I, L, O, and N. Then,the display control section 103 determines that the air conditioner isdisposed in the living room with a room ID of A. Then, the displaycontrol section 103 generates a gray layer with the region of the livingroom defined as the control target region 1301 and with the region onthe floor plan 500 other than the living room defined as the non-controltarget region 1302.

Next, transition between the display state of the basic screen and thedisplay state of the device control screen 502 will be described usingFIG. 18. In the basic screen shown in the left diagram of FIG. 18, theuser selects the device icon 501 for the device 200 (here, the airconditioner) that is desired to be controlled, and the touch panelcontrol section 102 senses the selection. Then, as shown in the rightdiagram of FIG. 18, the display control section 103 displays the devicecontrol screen 502 corresponding to the selected device icon 501 asoverlapped on the floor plan 500. This results in transition from thedisplay state of the basic screen to the display state of the devicecontrol screen 502.

On the other hand, as shown in the right diagram of FIG. 18, in thedisplay state of the device control screen 502, the user taps on thedevice icon 501 for the air conditioner corresponding to the devicecontrol screen 502 or a location outside the display region of thedevice control screen 502 (for example, the display region of the floorplan 500 outside the display region of the device control screen 502),and the touch panel control section 102 senses the tap. Then, as shownin the left diagram of FIG. 18, the display control section 103 erasesthe device control screen 502, and returns from the display state of thedevice control screen 502 to the display state of the basic screen. Atthis time, the display control section 103 returns the device icon 501to the original arrangement position on the floor plan 500.

The operation described above is the same for the floor plan 500 for anyfloor displayed in the basic screen. For example, as shown in the leftdiagram of FIG. 19, in the case where the basic screen displays thefloor plan 602 for the second floor, the user taps on the device icon501 for the device 200 (here, the air conditioner) that is desired to becontrolled, and the touch panel control section 102 senses the tap.Then, as shown in the right diagram of FIG. 19, the display controlsection 103 displays the device control screen 502 corresponding to theselected device icon 501 as overlapped on the floor plan 602 for thesecond floor.

On the other hand, as shown in the right diagram of FIG. 19, in thedisplay state of the device control screen 502 for the air conditioner,the user taps on the device icon 501 for the air conditionercorresponding to the device control screen 502 being displayed or alocation outside the display region of the device control screen 502(for example, the display region of the floor plan 500 outside thedisplay region of the device control screen 502), and the touch panelcontrol section 102 senses the tap. Then, as shown in the left diagramof FIG. 19, the display control section 103 erases the device controlscreen 502, and returns from the display state of the device controlscreen 502 to the display state of the basic screen in which the floorplan 602 for the second floor is displayed.

Next, a method of switching from the display state of a certain devicecontrol screen 502 to the display state of another device control screen502 will be described using FIG. 20. As shown in the left diagram ofFIG. 20, in the display state of the device control screen 502 for theair conditioner, the user taps on the device icon 501 for the washingmachine which is different from the device icon 501 for the airconditioner, and the touch panel control section 102 senses the tap.Then, as shown in the right diagram of FIG. 20, the display controlsection 103 erases the device control screen 502 which has beendisplayed, and displays the device control screen 502 corresponding tothe device icon 501 for the washing machine as overlapped on the floorplan 500. Switching in the opposite direction is performed in the samemanner.

Consequently, when the user successively selects different device icons501, switching is successively performed between the device controlscreens 502, which allows the user to successively control differentdevices 200. That is, in causing another device control screen 502 to bedisplayed while a certain device control screen 502 is displayed, it isno longer necessary for the user to input an operation of erasing thecertain device control screen 502, and switching can be performedbetween the device control screens 502 with one touch operation.

In the display state of the device control screen 502, in the case wherethe user taps on the device icon 501 corresponding to the device controlscreen 502 being displayed, the display control section 103 may onlyerase the device control screen 502, and may not return to the basicscreen. Such screen transition is shown in FIG. 21.

In the left diagram of FIG. 21, the device icon 501 for the airconditioner is selected by the user, and therefore the device controlscreen 502 for the air conditioner is displayed, and all the deviceicons 501 are displayed in one vertical line on the left side of thefloor plan 500. In this state, the user taps on the device icon 501 forthe air conditioner, and the touch panel control section 102 senses thetap. Then, as shown in the right diagram of FIG. 21, the display controlsection 103 erases only the device control screen 502 for the airconditioner with the device icons 501 kept displayed in one verticalline. In this case, the device icons 501 do not move onto the floor plan500, and therefore a user's desire to cause only the floor plan 500 tobe displayed may be met.

On the other hand, in the hidden state of the device control screen 502,the user selects a desired device icon 501, and the touch panel controlsection 102 senses the selection. Then, the display control section 103displays the device control screen 502 corresponding to the selecteddevice icon 501. For example, in the right diagram of FIG. 21, when theuser selects the device icon 501 for the air conditioner from the deviceicons 501 disposed in one vertical line on the left side of the floorplan 500, the device control screen 502 for the air conditioner isdisplayed as shown in the left diagram of FIG. 21.

Next, transition from the display state of the basic screen to thedisplay state of the device control screen 502 represented through ananimation will be described using FIG. 22. As shown in the upper leftdiagram of FIG. 22, the user selects the device icon 501 for the airconditioner, for example, in the basic screen. Then, the display controlsection 103 gradually lowers the transparency of the device controlscreen 502 for the air conditioner in the order of the upper rightdiagram, the lower right diagram, and the lower left diagram of FIG. 22to a final transparency of 0. At the same time, the display controlsection 103 moves all the device icons 501 onto the outer periphery ofan ellipse that surrounds the device control screen 502.

Next, transition from the display state of the basic screen to thedisplay state of the device control screen 502 represented through ananimation will be described using FIG. 23. As shown in the upper leftdiagram of FIG. 23, the user selects the device icon 501 for the device200 which is the air conditioner, for example, in the basic screen.Then, the display control section 103 gradually decreases thetransparency of the device control screen 502 for the air conditioner inthe order of the upper right diagram, the lower right diagram, and thelower left diagram of FIG. 23 to a final transparency of 0. At the sametime, the display control section 103 moves all the device icons to theleft side of the floor plan 500.

Consequently, representing the screen transition through an animationcan enhance the interest of the user in operating the device controlscreen 502 through screen rendering shown since the device icon 501 isselected until the device control screen 502 is displayed.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing the configuration of a device list displayscreen. The device list display screen is displayed when the user tapson the device list display change button 503 in the basic screen shownin FIG. 5.

As shown in FIG. 24, the device list display screen includes a devicelist 2000, device details icons 2001, and a basic screen display button2003.

When the user taps on the device details icon 2001 and the touch panelcontrol section 102 senses the tap, the display control section 103causes the device control screen 502 to be displayed as overlapped onthe device list 2000. This allows the user to cause the device controlscreen 502 to be displayed and operate the device 200 as in the casewhere the device icon 501 is tapped on.

The device details icon 2001 is prepared for each device 200. The devicedetails icon 2001 is different from the device icon 501 in representingnot only an image representing the device 200 but also the on/off stateand the operation state of the device 200. For example, the devicedetails icon 2001 for the refrigerator displayed in the upper left ofFIG. 24 displays not only an image of the refrigerator but also “ON”,which indicates that the refrigerator is currently turned on, and“OPERATION/ICE”, which indicates that the refrigerator is currentlymaking ice.

In the device list 2000, the device details icons 2001 are displayed asclassified on the basis of a classification criterion determined inadvance. Examples of the classification criterion determined in advanceinclude the type of the device 200, the room in which the device 200 isdisposed, and the status of use of the device 200. In FIG. 24, the typeof the device 200 is used as the classification criterion, and thedevice details icons 2001 are classified into three categories, namelythe household appliance, air-conditioning, and facility categories.

In the example of FIG. 24, the refrigerator, an electric toothbrush, thewashing machine, and the television set are classified into thehousehold appliance category, the air conditioner and the air purifierare classified into the air-conditioning category, and the toilet, theillumination device, and the bath are classified into the facilitycategory. In this case, a classification table that determines intowhich of the household appliance, air-conditioning, and facilitycategories each device 200 is classified on the basis of the contentregistered in the device type 3102 of the device list 3100 (see FIG. 35)is stored in advance in the storage section 104. Then, the displaycontrol section 103 may reference the classification table to classifyeach device into a category.

Returning to FIG. 24, the button with a text “TO FLOOR PLAN UI”displayed at the lower right of the device list 2000 is the basic screendisplay button 2003. The basic screen display button 2003 is a buttonfor switching the screen from the device list display screen to thebasic screen.

Although switching can be made between the basic screen and the devicelist display screen in the foregoing description, the device listdisplay screen may be utilized as the basic screen in place of the basicscreen shown in FIG. 5. In this case, the basic screen display button2003 may be omitted.

In the foregoing description, one device details icon 2001 is correlatedwith one device 200. However, the present disclosure is not limitedthereto, and one device details icon 2001 may be correlated with aplurality of devices 200 so that the one device details icon 2001 may beused in common to the plurality of devices 200. For example, in the casewhere there are two illumination devices in a living room, the twoillumination devices may be represented by one device details icon 2001.

In this case, when the device details icon 2001 representing the twoillumination devices is tapped on by the user, the display controlsection 103 causes the display 101 to display a device control screen502 that allows simultaneous control of the two illumination devices. Inthis case, the same effect as that obtained in the case where one deviceicon 501 is used in common to a plurality of devices 200 is obtained. Inthe case where one device details icon 2001 is used in common to aplurality of illumination devices, the device details icon 2001 maydisplay the on/off state and the operation state of each of twoillumination devices.

In the basic screen, the device details icon 2001 may be used in placeof the device icon 501. In the device list display screen, the deviceicon 501 may be used in place of the device details icon 2001. Inaddition, the device control screen 502 displayed in the case where thedevice details icon 2001 is selected and the device control screen 502displayed in the case where the device icon 501 is selected may be thesame as or different from each other. For example, the device detailsicon 2001 contains more information than that of the device icon 501,and therefore the device control screen 502 displayed in the case wherethe device details icon 2001 is selected may include more buttons andstates than those of the device control screen 502 displayed in the casewhere the device icon 501 is selected.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing screen transition between the basic screenand the device list display screen. In the basic screen shown in theleft diagram of FIG. 25, when the device list display change button 503is selected by the user, display on the display 101 is switched to thedevice list display screen shown in the right diagram of FIG. 25. On theother hand, in the device list display screen shown in the right diagramof FIG. 25, when the basic screen display button 2003 is selected by theuser, display on the display 101 is switched to the basic screen shownin the left diagram of FIG. 25.

Specifically, when the touch panel control section 102 senses a tap onthe basic screen display button 2003, the display control section 103switches the display screen on the display 101 to the basic screen fromthe device list display screen. On the other hand, in the display stateof the basic screen, when the touch panel control section 102 senses atap on the device list display change button 503, the display controlsection 103 switches the display screen on the display 101 from thebasic screen to the device list display screen.

For example, in the case where the device list display screen isselected for display, and in the case where the user attempts to operatethe television set located in front of the user, the device list displayscreen includes only one device details icon 2001 for the television setif there is only one television set in the house. This allows the userto directly select the device details icon 2001 for the television setwithout an erroneous operation, and to cause the device control screen502 corresponding to the television set to be displayed.

On the other hand, in the case where the device list display screen isselected, the device list display screen focuses on the individualdevices 200, and thus the relationship between the device 200 and thelocation at which the device 200 is disposed is unclear, although it ispossible to operate or confirm the state of the individual devices 200.Therefore, for a plurality of devices 200 installed within the samebuilding, such as the air conditioners or the illumination devices, forexample, it is unclear the air conditioner or the illumination device inwhich room is the control target, which may incur an erroneousoperation.

Thus, in the present disclosure, the basic screen is provided inaddition to the device list display screen to allow selection from thebasic screen and the device list display screen.

Consequently, in the case where the basic screen is selected, therelationship between the device 200 and the location at which the device200 is disposed is made definite. Therefore, also for a plurality ofdevices 200 of the same type installed in the same building, such as theair conditioners or illumination devices, for example, a discriminationas to the air conditioner or the illumination device in which room isthe control target is facilitated. This prevents the air conditioner orthe illumination device installed in a room that is different from thedesired room from being erroneously operated.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing screen transition between the display stateof the device list display screen and the display state of the devicecontrol screen 502. In the device list display screen shown in the leftdiagram of FIG. 26, the user selects the device details icon 2001 forthe device 200 (here, the air conditioner) that is desired to becontrolled, and the touch panel control section 102 senses theselection. Then, as shown in the right diagram of FIG. 26, the displaycontrol section 103 displays the device control screen 502 for the airconditioner corresponding to the selected device details icon 2001 asoverlapped on the device list display screen. This results in transitionfrom the display state of the device list display screen to the displaystate of the device control screen 502.

In the example in the right drawing of FIG. 26, the display controlsection 103 hides the device details icons 2001 for devices other thanthe air conditioner selected by the user, and only the device detailsicon 2001 for the air conditioner is displayed at a position that isdifferent from that in the device control screen 502. This allows theuser to definitely recognize the device details icon 2001 that the userhimself/herself selected.

On the other hand, as shown in the right diagram of FIG. 26, in thedisplay state of the device control screen 502, the user selects thedevice details icon 2001 for the air conditioner, and the touch panelcontrol section 102 senses the selection. Then, as shown in the leftdiagram of FIG. 26, the display control section 103 erases the devicecontrol screen 502, and returns from the display state of the devicecontrol screen 502 to the display state of the device list displayscreen.

Although only one device details icon 2001 is displayed in the displaystate of the device control screen 502 shown in the right diagram ofFIG. 26, other device details icons 2001 that are not selected by theuser may be displayed in the same manner as in FIG. 13. In this case,the plurality of device details icons 2001 may be displayed in one lineat an end of the screen as shown in FIG. 13, or may be displayed so asto surround the device control screen 502 as shown in FIG. 12.

According to the configuration, the user can successively select thedevice details icons 2001 in the display state of the device controlscreen 502 to successively display other device control screens 502.Consequently, in causing another device control screen 502 to bedisplayed while a certain device control screen 502 is displayed, it isno longer necessary for the user to input an operation of erasing thecertain device control screen 502, and switching can be performedbetween the device control screens 502 with one touch operation.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing screen transition between the display stateof the basic screen and the display state of the device control screen502 performed in the case where the basic screen includes a plurality ofdevice icons 501 representing the devices 200 of the same type. As shownin the left diagram of FIG. 27, the basic screen includes two deviceicons 501 for the television set. Here, the device icon 501 for atelevision set A is represented as a device icon 2401, and the deviceicon 501 for a television set B is represented as a device icon 2402. Atthis time, the user can intuitively select a television set that isdesired to be controlled from the floor plan 500, and operate thetelevision set.

For example, in the right diagram of FIG. 27, the device icon 2401 forthe television set A is selected, and a device control screen 2403 forthe television set A is displayed. Consequently, even if there are aplurality of device icons 501 for the devices 200 of the same type, eachdevice icon 501 is disposed at a position on the floor plan 500corresponding to the actual installation position. This allows the userto intuitively select the device icon 501 for a device 200 that isdesired to be controlled in accordance with the display position on thefloor plan 500, which prevents the device control screen 502 for anotherdevice 200 from being erroneously displayed.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing screen transition performed in the casewhere different device icons 501 are successively selected in thedisplay state of the device control screen 502 to successively switchbetween the device control screens 502. In the upper left diagram, adevice control screen 2511 for the air conditioner is displayed. Whenthe device icon 2501 for the refrigerator is selected in this state, adevice control screen 2512 for the refrigerator is displayed on thedisplay 101 as shown in the upper right diagram. When the device icon2502 for the washing machine is selected in the upper left diagram, adevice control screen 2513 for the washing machine is displayed as shownin the lower right diagram. When the device icon 2503 for the airpurifier is selected in the upper left diagram, a device control screen2514 for the air purifier is displayed as shown in the lower leftdiagram. Such screen transition is performed in the same manner in theupper right diagram, the lower right diagram, and the lower leftdiagram.

Consequently, when the user selects the device icon 501 in the displaystate of the device control screen 502, the device control screen 502corresponding to the device icon 501 can be directly displayed.Therefore, in the case where another device control screen 502 is to bedisplayed while a certain device control screen 502 is displayed, theother device control screen 502 can be displayed with one touchoperation without inputting an operation of erasing the device controlscreen 502 being displayed. This allows the user to smoothly switchbetween the device control screens 502.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of display on the basic screenof the device icons 501 for incommunicable devices 200 that cannot bedetected on the network. The device management section 105 detects adevice 200 that cannot be detected on the network and a device 200 thatdoes not respond to a control command even though registered in thedevice list 3100 as incommunicable devices 200. Then, the displaycontrol section 103 displays the device icons 501 for the incommunicabledevices 200 in a display mode that is different from that for the deviceicons 501 for communicable devices 200.

For example, in FIG. 29, the device icons 501 for the incommunicabledevices 200 are represented as device icons 2601. The device icons 2601are displayed translucently. This allows the user to immediatelyrecognize that the devices 200 indicated by the device icons 2601 arecurrently out of order or cannot be controlled because of occurrence ofa communication failure.

Although the device icons 2601 are displayed translucently in FIG. 29,the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the deviceicons 2601 may be displayed in a fainter color or more darkly than theother device icons 501, or provided with an annotation mark.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing the configuration of home information 2700.The home information 2700 is managed by the server 300 for each house,and the home controller 100 controls display on the basic screen, thedevice control screen 502, and so forth on the basis of the homeinformation 2700. As shown in FIG. 30, the home information 2700includes the floor plan 500, vertex information 2800, the roominformation 2900, and a device list 4700 managed by the server.

As shown in FIG. 6, the floor plan 500 is a plan view that is preparedfor each floor of a house and that planarly represents the arrangementand the shape of one or more rooms forming the floor. In the presentdisclosure, the floor plan 500 includes a plan view formed from imagedata represented in a bitmap format, for example.

The vertex information 2800 is information for adapting the floor plan500 to a two-dimensional coordinate-axis space to allow the homecontroller 100 to interpret the floor plan 500. The room information2900 is information for deciding the regions of rooms from the vertexinformation 2800. The vertex information 2800, the room information2900, and the device list 4700 managed by the server will be describedin detail below.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing the configuration of the vertex information2800. As shown in FIG. 31, the vertex information 2800 includes a vertexID 2801 and a vertex coordinate 2802. The vertex ID 2801 is anidentifier that identifies a vertex on the floor plan 500. The vertexcoordinate 2802 is a coordinate represented in the format of (Xcoordinate, Y coordinate, floor number), and indicates the position of avertex of a partition line or the like represented on the floor plan500. For example, the vertex with a vertex ID of B has a vertexcoordinate (X20, Y0, Z1), which represents the position on the firstfloor (the ground floor) with an X coordinate of 20 and a Y coordinateof 0.

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing the correlation between each vertexregistered in the vertex information 2800 and the floor plan 500. Itshould be noted, however, that in FIG. 33, the upper left vertex of thefloor plan 500 is the origin (with an X coordinate of 0 and a Ycoordinate of 0). For example, the vertex with a vertex ID of A has avertex coordinate (X0, Y0, Z1), and therefore is positioned at theorigin. Meanwhile, the vertex with a vertex ID of B has a vertexcoordinate (X20, Y0, Z1), and therefore is positioned at the upper rightvertex of the bath.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing the configuration of the room information2900. As shown in FIG. 32, the room information 2900 includes a room ID2901, the room type 2902, and a room coordinate 2903. The room ID 2901is an identifier that identifies a room on the floor plan 500. The roomtype 2902 indicates the type of the room. The room coordinate 2903 isexpressed by a set of the vertex IDs 2801, and decides the region of theroom on the floor plan 500. For example, the room with a room ID of C isthe bath, and indicates a region formed by connecting the vertexes withvertex IDs of A, B, G, and F sequentially in this order on the floorplan 500. The room information 2900 includes not only information on therooms but also information on the staircase. The region with a room IDof D formed by connecting the vertexes with vertex IDs of H, I, R, and Qsequentially in this order represents the staircase.

Consequently, with the vertex information 2800 and the room information2900 provided, the home controller 100 can specify the regions of therooms represented on the floor plan 500 by plotting the vertexesindicated by the vertex information 2800 on the image data for the floorplan 500 and connecting the vertexes indicated by the room coordinate2903, and recognize the type of the rooms from the room type 2902.

The vertex information 2800 may be generated by a system administratorby causing the floor plan 500 to be displayed on a display of a personalcomputer, detecting vertexes from the displayed floor plan, andinputting the vertex ID and the vertex coordinate of the detectedvertexes to the personal computer. The vertex information 2900 may alsobe generated by the system administrator by detecting rooms from thefloor plan displayed on a display, and inputting the room ID, the roomtype, and the room coordinate of the detected rooms to a personalcomputer. Alternatively, the vertex information 2800 and the roominformation 2900 may be generated by taking in CAD data which are theoriginal data for the floor plan 500.

FIG. 34 is a diagram showing the configuration of the device list 4700managed by the server 300. As shown in FIG. 34, the device list 4700includes a device ID 4701, a device type 4702, a model number 4703, anarrangement 4704, a capability information 4705, and a control commandtransmission destination 4706.

The device ID 4701 is the identifier of the device 200. The device type4702 indicates the type of the device 200. The model number 4703indicates the model number of the device 200. The arrangement 4704 is acoordinate represented in the format of (X coordinate, Y coordinate,floor number) as with the vertex coordinate 2802, and indicates thearrangement of the device icon 501 corresponding to the device 200 onthe floor plan 500.

The display control section 103 can dispose the device icon 501 on thefloor plan 500 on the basis of the arrangement 4704, and display thebasic screen and so forth. The capability information 4705 indicates thecontent for control of the device 200 and the state that can be acquiredfrom the device 200. For example, the air conditioner with a device IDof A can be controlled for the temperature, the air flow direction, andthe air flow amount. The control command transmission destination 4706indicates the transmission destination of a control command forcontrolling the device 200. For example, the control commandtransmission destination 4706 for the air conditioner with a device IDof A is the device, and therefore a control command is directlytransmitted from the home controller 100 to the device 200. Meanwhile,the control command transmission destination 4706 for the refrigeratorwith a device ID of C is the server, and therefore a control command istransmitted from the home controller 100 to the device 200 via theserver 300. The control command is a command for operating the device200 or confirming the state of the device 200.

The current state of the device 200 may be registered in the device list4700. This allows the server 300 to notify the home controller 100 ofthe state of the relevant device 200 in the case where a request forconfirmation of the state of the device 200 is made from the homecontroller 100.

As discussed above, in order to dispose the device icon 501 on the floorplan 500 on the basis of the actual arrangement of the device 200 withinthe house, the user moves the device icon 501 to an appropriate positionon the floor plan 500. Thus, for the device icon 501 of which thearrangement on the floor plan 500 is not specified by the user, a valuethat indicates an unset arrangement such as (0, 0, 0) is set as thevalue of the arrangement 4704. The display control section 103 displaysthe device icon 501 with the arrangement 4704 unset at a position on thedisplay 101 determined in advance.

The device list 4700 managed by the server may be omitted from the homeinformation 2700. In this case, the home controller 100 may directlyacquire from the device 200 information corresponding to the device type4702, the model number 4703, and the capability information 4705provided in the device list 4700 managed by the server.

FIG. 35 is a diagram showing the configuration of the device list 3100managed by the home controller 100. The home controller 100 disposes thedevice icons 501 on the floor plan 500 in the basic screen and controlsthe devices 200 on the basis of information in the device list 3100.

The device list 3100 includes the device ID 3101, the device type 3102,a model number 3103, the arrangement 3104, capability information 3105,a control command transmission destination 3106, and an IP address 3107.The device ID 3101 to the control command transmission destination 3106are the same in content as those with the same name in FIG. 34.

In the device list 3100, the content of the device type 3102, the modelnumber 3103, the arrangement 3104, the capability information 3105, thecontrol command transmission destination 3106 can be acquired by thedevice management section 105 by transmitting the device list 4700 fromthe server 300. The IP address 3107 is acquired from the device 200 bythe device management section 105. It should be noted, however, that thedevice management section 105 may give priority to the content of thedevice type 3102, the model number 3103, the capability information3105, and the control command transmission destination 3106 that can bedirectly acquired from the device 200 in the case where such content isavailable.

The control command transmission destination 3106 may be determined inadvance by the home controller system, may be automatically decided onthe basis of the state of the network to which the home controller 100is connected, or may be set by the user, rather than being acquired fromthe server 300 or the device 200.

Next, the flow of control performed on the device 200 by the homecontroller 100 will be described using the drawings.

FIG. 36 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a process for the homecontroller 100 to acquire the home information 2700 from the server 300.The home controller 100 acquires the home information 2700 from theserver 300 at desired timing such as when the home controller 100 isinitially utilized or started, and generates the basic screen shown inFIG. 5 on the basis of the acquired home information 2700.

First, the device management section 105 of the home controller 100transmits a home information request to the server 300 (S3201). Here,the home information request includes at least a home controller ID thatindicates a user or a home that utilizes the home controller 100. Thehome information management section 301 of the server 300 which receivesthe home information request searches the storage section 304 for thehome information 2700 corresponding to the home controller ID (S3202),and transmits the home information 2700 to the home controller 100(S3203). The device management section 105 of the home controller 100stores the home information 2700 received from the server 300 in thestorage section 104, and the display control section 103 generates abasic screen on the basis of the home information 2700, and displays thebasic screen on the display 101 (S3204).

Next, the flow of a process for the home controller 100 to detect thedevice 200 on the network after the home controller 100 is connected tothe network will be described using FIG. 37.

In FIG. 37, a device A 200 with a device ID of A and a device B 200 of adevice ID of B shown in FIG. 34 are connected to the network.

When the home controller 100 is connected to the network when the homecontroller 100 is initially utilized or turned on (S3301), the devicemanagement section 105 of the home controller 100 broadcasts a devicesearch request to all the devices 200 on the network (S3302). The deviceA 200 which receives the device search request returns a device searchresponse to the home controller 100 (S3303). The home controller 100which receives the device search response acquires device informationfrom the device A 200 (S3304), and updates the display screen (S3305).

Similarly, the device B 200 which receives the device search requestreturns a device search response to the home controller 100 (S3306). Thehome controller 100 which receives the device search response acquiresdevice information from the device B 200 (S3307), and updates thedisplay screen (S3308). Here, the device information is information thatrepresents the device type, the model number, the capabilityinformation, and so forth of the device 200. The device managementsection 105 of the home controller 100 generates the device list 3100(see FIG. 35) on the basis of the device information.

Next, the flow of a process for the home controller 100 to detect thedevice 200 on the network when the device 200 is connected to thenetwork will be described using FIG. 38. When the device A 200 isconnected to the network when the device A 200 is initially utilized orturned on (S3401), a network connection notification is broadcast to allthe home controllers 100 on the network (S3402). In the home controller100 which receives the network connection notification, the devicemanagement section 105 acquires device information from the device A 200(S3403), and the display control section 103 updates the display screen(S3404). When the device B 200 is connected to the network, the sameprocess as for the device A 200 is performed (S3405 to S3408).

Here, the update of the display screen of the home controller 100 inFIGS. 37 and 38 (S3305, S3308, S3404, and S3408) will be described. Thehome controller 100 hides the device icon 501 corresponding to thedevice 200 until the device search response or the network connectionnotification is received from the device 200, that is, until the device200 is detected on the network. Then, the home controller 100 whichreceives the device search response displays the device icon 501 for thecorresponding device 200 on the screen. Alternatively, the homecontroller 100 displays the device icon 501 for the undetected device200 in a faint color (for example, translucently) compared to the deviceicon 501 for the detected device 200. Then, the home controller 100which receives the device search response changes the color of thedevice icon 501 for the undetected device 200 to the same color as thecolor of the device icon 501 for the detected device 200.

FIGS. 39A and 39B are each a flowchart showing the flow of a process forthe home controller 100 to control the device 200 according to thepresent disclosure.

First, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the device icon501 representing a certain device 200 is selected by the user on thebasic screen (S3501). Next, the display control section 103 retracts allthe device icons 501 out of the display region of the device controlscreen 502 (S3502). In this case, the device icons 501 are retracted asshown in FIGS. 11 and 13.

Next, the display control section 103 adjusts the display positions ofthe retracted device icons 501 (S3503). For example, the selected deviceicons 501 are adjusted so as to be displayed at particular positions asshown in FIGS. 12 and 14.

Next, the display control section 103 judges whether the device controlscreen 502 corresponding to the device icon 501 selected by the user isa dedicated screen or a floor plan (S3504).

Here, the device control screen 502 which is a dedicated screen refersto the device control screen 502 prepared separately from the floor planand displayed as overlapped on the floor plan as shown in FIG. 13. Onthe other hand, the device control screen 502 which is a floor planrefers to the device control screen 502 which is the floor plan itself.

For example, if the illumination device can be turned on and off oradjusted for the brightness by the user by directly tapping on theregion of a room on the floor plan in which the illumination device isdisposed, the illumination device can be operated with presence. In thecase where the user attempts to operate a plurality of illuminationdevices installed in the living room at the same time, meanwhile, theentire screen is covered by the device control screens 502 dedicated tothe illumination devices if the device control screens 502 dedicated tothe individual illumination devices are displayed on the floor plan atthe same time, which lowers the viewability.

Thus, in the following description, it is assumed that the devicecontrol screen 502 for the illumination device is a floor plan.Specifically, when the user selects the device icon 501 for theillumination device installed in a certain room in the basic screen, allthe device icons 501 are retracted out of the display region of thefloor plan, and the floor plan becomes ready to receive an operation forthe illumination device in the room. Then, when the user taps on theregion of the room on the floor plan in which the selected illuminationdevice is installed, one or more illumination devices within the roomcan be operated at the same time.

For example, when the user taps on the region of a room with theillumination devices in the room turned off, one or more illuminationdevices in the room are turned on at the same time. Next, when the usertaps on the region, the one or more illumination devices are turned offat the same time.

In the case where the device control screen 502 is a floor plan in53504, and if the region of the room in which the device icon 501 isdisposed is equal to or less than a certain size (YES in S3506), thedisplay control section 103 causes the device control screen 502dedicated to the device in which the region of the room is displayed asenlarged to be displayed as overlapped on the floor plan (S3507). Here,for example, a floor plan formed by clipping the floor plan of therelevant room from the floor plan for the entire floor and enlarging theclipped floor plan is displayed as overlapped on the floor plan for theentire floor.

If the region of the room in which the device icon 501 is disposed isnot equal to or less than the certain size (NO in S3506), on the otherhand, the display control section 103 displays the floor plan as thedevice control screen 502 (S3508).

Information as to whether a dedicated screen or a floor plan is adoptedas the device control screen 502 for each device 200 is stored inadvance in the storage section 104. Thus, the display control section103 may reference the information to determine whether the devicecontrol screen 502 is a dedicated screen or a floor plan.

In addition, the display control section 103 may calculate the size ofthe relevant room by specifying the vertexes of the relevant room fromthe room information 2900, specifying the coordinates of the specifiedvertexes from the vertex information 2800, and calculating the area of aregion surrounded by the specified coordinates of the vertexes. Then,the result of determination in S3506 may be NO if the size of the roomis not equal to or less than the certain size determined in advance, andthe result of determination in S3506 may be YES if the size of the roomis equal to or less than the certain size.

In the case where the device control screen 502 is a dedicated screen inS3504, on the other hand, the display control section 103 displays thededicated screen as overlapped on the floor plan (S3505).

In S3509, the touch panel control section 102 senses that a contactingobject (here, a finger of the user) starts contacting the display 101.

Next, the touch panel control section 102 determines whether or not thecontact target is the device icon 501 (S3510).

If it is determined that the device icon 501 is contacted (YES inS3510), the touch panel control section 102 determines whether or notthe contacting object contacts the same device icon 501 as the deviceicon 501 selected in S3501 (S3511). In the case where it is determinedthat the contacting object contacts the same device icon 501 as thedevice icon 501 selected in S3501 (YES in S3511), the display controlsection 103 hides the device control screen 502 being displayed todisplay the basic screen (S3514).

In the case where the touch panel control section 102 determines thatthe device icon 501 is not contacted (NO in S3510), the touch panelcontrol section 102 further determines whether or not the contact targetis the device control screen 502 (S3512). In the case where it isdetermined that the contact target is not the device control screen 502(NO in S3512), the display control section 103 hides the device controlscreen 502 being displayed, and the basic screen is displayed (S3514).

If the touch panel control section 102 determines that the contactingobject contacts a button or the like within the device control screen502 (YES in S3512), on the other hand, the process is advanced to S3513,where a control flow that is specific to the device is executed (S3513).

Next, the control flow that is specific to the device executed in S3513will be described in detail using FIG. 40. First, the device controlsection 106 decides the content of control that is specific to thedevice in accordance with the content of a contact by the contactingobject (S3601). Next, the device control section 106 generates a controlcommand according to the content of control (S3602). It is assumed thatthe user taps on the button for raising the temperature with the devicecontrol screen 502 for the air conditioner displayed as shown in FIG. 11and the touch panel control section 102 senses the tap. Then, the devicecontrol section 106 generates a control command for raising thetemperature of the air conditioner. Next, the device control section 106advances the process to S3603, where a control command transmission flowis executed.

Next, the control command transmission flow executed in 53603 will bedescribed in detail using FIG. 41. First, the device control section 106determines whether or not the home controller 100 is connected to thehome network (S3701). If the home controller 100 is connected to thehome controller (YES in S3701), the device control section 106 checksthe transmission destination of a control command in accordance with thecontent of the control command transmission destination 3106 of thedevice list 3100 (S3702). Here, the home network is a network providedwithin the home of the user. Thus, the result of determination in S3701is NO if the user operates the home controller 100 from a location awayfrom the home, and the result of determination in S3701 is YES if theuser operates the home controller 100 from a location within the home.

If the transmission destination of a control command is “DEVICE” inS3702, the device control section 106 transmits a control command to therelevant device 200 (S3703). If the transmission destination of acontrol command is “SERVER” in S3702, on the other hand, the devicecontrol section 106 transmits a control command to the server 300(S3704).

For example, in the device list 3100, the control command transmissiondestination 3106 of the air conditioner is “DEVICE”, and therefore thedevice control section 106 transmits a control command to the airconditioner. On the other hand, in the device list 3100, the controlcommand transmission destination 3106 of the refrigerator is “SERVER”,and therefore the device control section 106 transmits a control commandto the server 300.

Meanwhile, in the case where it is judged in S3701 that the homecontroller 100 is not connected to the home network (NO in S3701), theprocess in S3704 is performed.

In S3705, the device control section 106 receives the control resultfrom the device 200. Next, in the case where transmission of a controlcommand to all the devices 200 that are operated at the same time iscompleted (YES in S3706), the device control section 106 advances theprocess to S3707. In the case where transmission of a control command toall the devices 200 that are operated at the same time is not completed(NO in S3706), on the other hand, the device control section 106 returnsthe process to S3702, and repeats the processes in and after S3702.

For example, in the case where two illumination devices are installed inthe same room and the two illumination devices are set in advance to beoperated at the same time, the device control section 106 transmits acontrol command to each of the two illumination devices. The result ofdetermination in S3706 is NO for devices 200 that are not operated atthe same time as other devices 200.

Next, the display control section 103 updates the screen displayed onthe display 101 (S3707). For example, if the set temperature of the airconditioner is changed, the device control screen 502 is updated suchthat the temperature display is flashed on and off, for example, untilthe set temperature of the air conditioner is changed by a controlcommand and the temperature display stops flashing when the settemperature of the air conditioner is changed by a control command. Inthe example of the illumination device, the screen is updated such thatthe region on the floor plan of a room in which the illumination deviceis installed becomes brighter than other regions in the case where theillumination device is turned on.

Next, the flow of a process for the home controller 100 to directlycontrol the device 200 will be described using FIG. 42. First, the touchpanel control section 102 of the home controller 100 senses a useroperation on the device control screen 502 (S3801). Next, the devicecontrol section 106 of the home controller 100 generates a controlcommand according to the user operation, and transmits the controlcommand to the device 200 (S3802).

The device 200 which receives the control command executes the controlcommand (S3803), and transmits the control result to the home controller100 (S3804). The display control section 103 of the home controller 100which receives the control result updates the display screen inaccordance with the control result (S3805).

Next, the flow of a process for the home controller 100 to control thedevice 200 by way of the server 300 will be described using FIG. 43.First, the touch panel control section 102 of the home controller 100senses a user operation on the device control screen 502 (S3901). Next,the device control section 106 of the home controller 100 generates acontrol command according to the user operation, and transmits thecontrol command to the server 300 (S3902).

The server 300 which receives the control command transmits the relevantcontrol command to the device 200 (S3903). The device 200 which receivesthe control command executes the control command (S3904), and transmitsthe control result to the server 300 (S3905). The server 300 whichreceives the control result transmits the control result to the homecontroller 100 (S3906). The display control section 103 of the homecontroller 100 which receives the control result updates the displayscreen in accordance with the control result (S3907).

Next, the flow of a process for the home controller 100 to confirm thedevice state of the device 200 by way of the server 300 will bedescribed using FIG. 44. First, the device 200 transmits the currentdevice state to the server 300 (S4001). Here, the device 200 transmitsthe device state to the server 300 when the device 200 is turned on,when the device 200 is turned off, when the device state is changed, orregularly to cause the server 300 to store the device state. The processin S4001 may be executed asynchronously with the processes in S4002 toS4006.

Next, the touch panel control section 102 of the home controller 100senses a user operation on the device control screen 502 (S4002). Next,the device control section 106 of the home controller 100 generates acontrol command according to the user operation, and transmits thecontrol command to the server 300 (S4003). Here, a control command forconfirming the device state of the device 200 is generated.

The server 300 which receives the control command searches for thecurrent device state of the relevant device 200 (S4004), and transmitsthe device state of the relevant device 200 to the home controller 100as the control result (S4005). The display control section 103 of thehome controller 100 which receives the control result updates thedisplay screen in accordance with the control result (S4006). Forexample, if the device control screen 502 for the device 200 isdisplayed on the display 101, the content of the device control screen502 for the device 200 is updated in accordance with the control result.

Next, the flow of a process for the home controller 100 to directlycontrol the devices 200 in the case where the home controller 100controls a plurality of devices 200 with one operation will be describedusing FIG. 45. Here, a case where the home controller 100 controls thedevice A 200 and the device B 200 is described as an example.

First, the touch panel control section 102 of the home controller 100senses a user operation on the device control screen 502 (S4101). Next,the device control section 106 of the home controller 100 generates acontrol command according to the user operation, and transmits thecontrol command to the device A 200 (S4102).

The device A 200 which receives the control command executes the controlcommand (S4103), and transmits the control result to the home controller100 (S4104).

Next, the device control section 106 of the home controller 100transmits to the device B 200 a control command that is the same as thecontrol command transmitted to the device A 200 (S4105). The device B200 which receives the control command executes the control command(S4106), and transmits the control result to the home controller 100(S4107).

The display control section 103 of the home controller 100 whichreceives the control result updates the display screen in accordancewith the control result (S4108). In this case, for example, if thedevice control screens 502 for the devices A 200 and B 200 are displayedon the display 101, the content of the device control screens 502 forthe devices A 200 and B 200 is updated in accordance with the controlresult.

Next, the flow of a process for the home controller 100 to control thedevices 200 by way of the server 300 in the case where the homecontroller 100 controls a plurality of devices 200 with one operationwill be described using FIG. 46. Here, a case where the home controller100 controls the device A 200 and the device B 200 is described as anexample. In addition, it is assumed that the devices A 200 and B 200 arerepresented by one device icon 501, and controlled using one devicecontrol screen 502.

First, the touch panel control section 102 of the home controller 100senses a user operation on the device control screen 502 (S4201).

Next, the device control section 106 of the home controller 100generates a control command for the device A 200 according to the useroperation, and transmits the control command to the server 300 (S4202).

The server 300 which receives the control command for the device A 200transmits the control command to the device A 200 (S4203). The device A200 which receives the control command executes the control command(S4204), and transmits the control result to the server 300 (S4205). Theserver 300 which receives the control result transmits the controlresult to the home controller 100 (S4206).

Similarly, the device control section 106 of the home controller 100generates a control command for the device B 200 according to the useroperation, and transmits the control command to the server 300 (S4207).

The server 300 which receives the control command transmits the controlcommand to the device B 200 (S4208). The device B 200 which receives thecontrol command executes the control command (S4209), and transmits thecontrol result to the server 300 (S4210). The server 300 which receivesthe control result transmits the control result to the home controller100 (S4211).

Then, the display control section 103 of the home controller 100 updatesthe display screen in accordance with the control result (S4212).

Next, the flow of a process for the home controller 100 to control thedevices 200 by way of the server 300 in the case where the homecontroller 100 controls a plurality of devices 200 with one operationwill be described using FIG. 47. Here, a case where the home controller100 controls the device A 200 and the device B 200 is described as anexample. In addition, it is assumed that the devices A 200 and B 200 arerepresented by one device icon 501, and controlled using one devicecontrol screen 502.

First, the touch panel control section 102 of the home controller 100senses a user operation on the device control screen 502 (S4301).

Next, the device control section 106 of the home controller 100generates a control command for the device A 200 and the device B 200 inaccordance with the user operation, and transmits the control command tothe server 300 (S4302).

The server 300 which receives the control command transmits the controlcommand to the device A 200 (S4303). The device A 200 which receives thecontrol command executes the control command (S4304), and transmits thecontrol result to the server 300 (S4305).

Similarly, the server 300 transmits the control command to the device B200 (S4306). The device B 200 which receives the control commandexecutes the control command (S4307), and transmits the control resultto the server 300 (S4308). The server 300 which receives the controlresult for the device A 200 and the device B 200 transmits the controlresult to the home controller 100 (S4309).

Then, the display control section 103 of the home controller 100 updatesthe display screen in accordance with the control result (S4310).

Next, the flow of a process for a case where the device icon 501 ismoved in the home controller 100 will be described using FIG. 48. Here,it is assumed that the user owns two home controllers A 100 and B 100.

When the touch panel control section 102 of the home controller A 100senses movement of the device icon 501 (S4801), the display controlsection 103 updates the display screen (S4802). Here, the displaycontrol section 103 displays the device icon 501 moved in accordancewith the amount of a drag performed on the device icon 501 by the user.

The device management section 105 of the home controller A 100 transmitsto the server 300 a device list update notification including thecoordinate on the floor plan 500 after the drag (S4803). Here, thedevice management section 105 of the home controller A 100 updates thecontent of the arrangement 3104 of the relevant device 200 in the devicelist 3100 managed by the device management section 105 itself with thecoordinate after the drag.

The server 300 which receives the device list update notificationupdates the device list 4700 (S4804). In this case, the home informationmanagement section 301 of the server 300 updates the content of thearrangement 4704 of the relevant device 200 in the device list 4700 withthe coordinate included in the device list update notification.

Subsequently, the server 300 transmits the device list updatenotification to the home controller B 100 (S4805). The home controller B100 which receives the device list update notification updates thedisplay screen (S4806). Here, the device management section 105 of thehome controller B 100 updates the content of the arrangement 3104 of therelevant device 200 in the device list 3100 managed by the devicemanagement section 105 itself with the coordinate included in the devicelist update notification.

The device icon 501 is disposed at an appropriate position on the floorplan 500 through the process described above. Because the homecontroller B 100 is notified of the update of the arrangement positionof the device icon 501 performed by the home controller A 100 by way ofthe server 300, the arrangement position of the device icon 501 afterthe update is shared among the home controllers A 100 and B 100 and theserver 300. Therefore, it is possible to avoid trouble in which thearrangement position of the device icon 501 is different between thehome controller A 100 and the home controller B 100.

Next, an example of a process for updating the device lists of the homecontroller 100 and the server 300 will be described using FIG. 49. Thedevice 200 transmits the device state indicating the current state ofthe device 200 itself to the server 300 (S4901). Here, the device 200may regularly transmit the device state, or may transmit the devicestate when the state is varied. The server 300 updates the device list4700 in accordance with the content of the received device state(S4902). Here, in the case where the device list 4700 does not containinformation on the device 200, the server 300 adds information on thedevice 200 as a new device. Then, the server 300 transmits a device listupdate notification to the home controller 100 (S4903). The devicemanagement section 105 of the home controller 100 updates the devicelist 3100 in accordance with the content of the received device listupdate notification (S4904). Here, in the case where the device list3100 does not contain information on the device 200, the devicemanagement section 105 adds information on the device 200 as a newdevice. Then, the display control section 103 of the home controller 100updates the display screen (S4905).

Consequently, the server 300 is notified of variation in state of thedevice 200, which allows the server 300 to monitor variation in state ofthe device 200. The server 300 to which the device state is transmittedfrom the device 200 notifies the home controller 100 of variation instate of the device 200, which allows the home controller 100 torecognize the current state of the device 200. In the case where a newdevice 200 is connected to the home network, the server 300 and the homecontroller 100 can add the new device. Hence, it is possible to preventoccurrence of deviation between the actual state of the device 200 andthe state of the device 200 recognized by the home controller 100.

Next, another example of the process for updating the device lists ofthe home controller 100 and the server 300 will be described using FIG.50. The device 200 transmits the device state to the home controller 100(S5001). Here, the device 200 may regularly transmit the device state,or may transmit the device state when the state is varied.

The device management section 105 of the home controller 100 updates thedevice list 3100 in accordance with the content of the received devicestate (S5002). Here, in the case where the device list 3100 does notcontain information on the device 200, the device management section 105adds information on the device 200 as a new device. Then, the displaycontrol section 103 updates the display screen (S5003). Then, the devicemanagement section 105 of the home controller 100 transmits a devicelist update notification to the server 300 (S5004). The server 300updates the device list 4700 in accordance with the received device listupdate notification (S5005). Here, in the case where the device list4700 does not contain information on the device 200, the server 300 addsinformation on the device 200 as a new device.

Next, still another example of a process in which the home controller100 and the server 300 update the device list will be described usingFIG. 51. In FIG. 51, a case where the user owns two home controllers100, namely an in-home home controller 100 and an out-home homecontroller 100, is described as an example. Here, the out-home homecontroller 100 is a home controller 100 taken away from the home by theuser, and the in-home home controller 100 is a home controller 100 keptat the home by the user.

The device 200 transmits the device state to the in-home home controller100 (S5101). The in-home home controller 100 updates the device list3100 in accordance with the content of the received device state(S5102). Here, in the case where the device list 3100 does not containinformation on the device 200, the device management section 105 addsinformation on the device 200 as a new device. Then, the display screenis updated (S5103). Then, the in-home home controller 100 transmits adevice list update notification to the server 300 (S5104).

The server 300 updates the device list 4700 in accordance with thecontent of the received device list update notification (S5105). Here,in the case where the device list 4700 does not contain information onthe device 200, the server 300 adds information on the device 200 as anew device. Then, the server 300 transmits a device list updatenotification to the out-home home controller 100 (S5106). The out-homehome controller 100 updates the device list 3100 in accordance with thecontent of the received device list update notification (S5107). Here,in the case where the device list 3100 does not contain information onthe device 200, the device management section 105 of the out-home homecontroller 100 adds information on the device 200 as a new device. Then,the display screen is updated (S5108).

According to the example, even in the case where one home controller 100is located away from the home and the other home controller 100 islocated in the home, it is possible to prevent occurrence of deviationbetween the states of the device 200 recognized by the two homecontrollers 100.

The sequences and the process flows described above are merelyexemplary, and the order of the steps may be changed and some of thesteps may be omitted as long as the intended process may be embodied.For example, a control command may be transmitted to the device A 200and the device B 200 asynchronously.

In the foregoing description, a plan view that planarly represents theposition and the shape of rooms forming each floor is adopted as thefloor plan 500. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto,and a diagram that schematically shows how many rooms of what type arelocated on each floor may be adopted as the floor plan.

Floor plans in other patterns will be specifically described below. FIG.52 is a diagram showing a floor plan 5200 in another pattern. In thefloor plan 5200, rooms forming one floor are each represented by onerectangular block, and the rooms on the one floor are disposed in amatrix. The blocks have the same size, and are each provided with thename of the room.

In the floor plan 5200, the name and the number of the rooms formingeach floor are indicated, but the relative size and the position in thefloor of the rooms are not represented. In the present disclosure, sucha diagram is treated as the floor plan 5200. That is, in the presentdisclosure, any diagram that represents at least what rooms are providedon each floor are treated as the floor plan.

For example, it is seen that a floor plan 5201 for the first floorincludes rooms such as a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, a bath,a lavatory, a toilet, a staircase, and a hallway. Meanwhile, it is seenthat a floor plan 5202 for the second floor includes rooms such as amain bedroom, a bedroom 1, a bedroom 2, a child's room, and a staircase.

The user can drag and move a desired room on the floor plan 5200 tochange the position of the room on the floor plan 5200. In the casewhere a large number of devices 200 are disposed within a room and allthe device icons 501 cannot be displayed within the room on the floorplan 5200 using a default room size, the display control section 103 mayincrease the size of the room such that all the device icons 501 can beaccommodated within the room.

FIG. 53 is a diagram showing the configuration of a basic screen thatadopts the floor plan 5200. The floor plan 5200 is displayed on thebasic screen. In addition, the device icons 501 for the devices 200actually disposed are displayed within each room.

For example, the device icons 501 for the television set and theillumination device are displayed in the living room, and therefore itis seen that the television set and the illumination device areinstalled in the living room.

The device list display change button 503 is a button for switching thescreen display from the basic screen to the device list display screendiscussed earlier (see FIG. 24).

FIG. 54 is a diagram showing the display state of the device controlscreen 502 for a case where the floor plan 5200 shown in FIG. 52 isadopted. In the basic screen shown in FIG. 53, when the touch panelcontrol section 102 senses that the user selects the device icon 501,the display control section 103 causes the display 101 to display thedevice control screen 502 corresponding to the selected device icon 501.In FIG. 54, the device icon 501 for the air conditioner is selected, andtherefore the device control screen 502 for the air conditioner isdisplayed as overlapped on the floor plan 5200.

In displaying the device control screen 502, the display control section103 disposes the device icons 501 displayed on the floor plan 5200outside the display region of the device control screen 502. In theexample of FIG. 54, all the device icons 501 are disposed in onevertical line on the left side of the floor plan 5200.

In disposing the device icons 501 in one vertical line on the left sideof the floor plan 5200, the display control section 103 may group thedevice icons 501 under particular conditions. For example, the deviceicons 501 may be grouped in accordance with the room, may be grouped inaccordance with the type of the device 200, or may be grouped inaccordance with the category based on the type of the device 200.

In the example of FIG. 54, the device icons 501 are disposed on the leftside of the floor plan 5200. However, the device icons 501 may bedisposed in one vertical line on the right side of the floor plan 5200,or may be disposed in one horizontal line on the upper or lower side ofthe floor plan 5200.

In the case where all the device icons 501 cannot be displayed on theleft side of the floor plan 5200, the display control section 103 mayscroll the device icons 501 upward or downward in accordance with aswipe operation performed upward or downward on the device icons 501disposed in one line on the left side to cause the device icons 501,which have been hidden, to be displayed within the display 101.

In disposing the device icons 501 in one vertical line on the left sideof the floor plan 5200, the display control section 103 may display thedevice icon 501 selected by the user in a display mode that is differentfrom that for the unselected device icons 501. For example, the selecteddevice icon 501 may be displayed in a color that is different from thatof the unselected device icons 501, may be displayed more brightly thanthe unselected device icons 501, may be displayed more densely than theunselected device icons 501, or may be flashed on and off at a constantcycle.

The display control section 103 may scroll an array of the device icons501 such that the device icon 501 selected by the user is positioned ata conspicuous position (for example, the top, middle, or bottomposition) in the line of icons.

In displaying the device control screen 502, the display control section103 may dispose all the device icons 501 on the outer periphery of anellipse as shown in FIG. 12.

Next, transition between the display state of the basic screen and thedisplay state of the device control screen 502 will be described usingFIG. 55.

In the basic screen shown in the left diagram of FIG. 55, the userselects the device icon 501 for the device 200 (here, the airconditioner) that is desired to be controlled, and the touch panelcontrol section 102 senses the selection. Then, as shown in the rightdiagram of FIG. 55, the display control section 103 displays the devicecontrol screen 502 corresponding to the selected device icon 501 asoverlapped on the floor plan 5200. This results in transition from thedisplay state of the basic screen to the display state of the devicecontrol screen 502.

On the other hand, as shown in the right diagram of FIG. 55, in thedisplay state of the device control screen 502, the user selects thedevice icon 501 for the air conditioner corresponding to the devicecontrol screen 502 or a location outside the display region of thedevice control screen 502 (for example, the display region of the floorplan 5200 outside the display region of the device control screen 502),and the touch panel control section 102 senses the selection. Then, asshown in the left diagram of FIG. 55, the display control section 103erases the device control screen 502, and returns from the display stateof the device control screen 502 to the display state of the basicscreen.

FIG. 56 is a diagram showing the configuration of a floor plan 5600 fora case where the size of each block is varied in accordance with theactual room size in the floor plan 5200 shown in FIG. 52.

In the left diagram of FIG. 56, a floor plan 5601 for the first floor isshown. In the right diagram of FIG. 56, a floor plan 5602 for the secondfloor is shown.

In the floor plan 5601 for the first floor, the living room is thelargest in terms of the room size, and is followed by the kitchen, thebath, and the staircase. Therefore, the sizes of the rooms are displayedin this order. Also in the floor plan 5602 for the second floor, therooms are represented in accordance with the actual room size. In thiscase, information that indicates the actual room size may be registeredin advance in room information 6800 to be discussed later, and thedisplay control section 103 may decide the size of each room inaccordance with the information.

FIG. 57 is a diagram showing the configuration of a basic screen thatadopts the floor plan 5600 shown in FIG. 56. In the floor plan 5600,each room is displayed with a size matching the actual size. Inaddition, the device icons 501 for the devices 200 actually disposed aredisplayed in each room.

In the case where the mode in which each room is represented with a sizematching the actual room size on the floor plan 5600 is adopted,displaying all the rooms within the display 101 may result in smalldisplay of the rooms to make a user operation difficult. Thus, a roomdisplay button 5603 with a text “DISPLAY OTHER ROOMS” is provided inFIG. 57.

When the user selects the room display button and the touch panelcontrol section 102 senses the selection, the display control section103 switches the screen display to the floor plan 5600 which displaysthe remaining rooms.

In the example of FIG. 57, the floor plan 5600 is partitioned into thefloor plan 5601 for the first floor and the floor plan 5602 for thesecond floor. Therefore, when the room display button 5603 is selected,the display control section 103 switches display on the display 101 tothe floor plan 5602 for the second floor. In this case, the room displaybutton 5603 is also provided on the floor plan 5602 for the secondfloor. Therefore, when the room display button 5603 is selected, thedisplay control section 103 switches display on the display 101 to thefloor plan 5601 for the first floor.

Although the floor plan is provided for each floor in the example ofFIG. 57, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, inthe case where the floor plan 5601 for the first floor cannot bedisplayed on the display 101 at the same time, the display controlsection 103 may divide the floor plan 5601 for the first floor, anddisplay a divided portion of the floor plan 5601 on the display 101. Inthis case, when the room display button 5603 is selected, a hiddenportion of the floor plan 5601 for the first floor may be displayed.

In the case where the floor plan 5601 for the first floor and the floorplan 5602 for the second floor can be displayed on the display 101 atthe same time, the display control section 103 may display the floorplan 5601 for the first floor and the floor plan 5602 for the secondfloor on the display 101 at the same time. In this case, the roomdisplay button 5603 is omitted from the floor plan 5600.

In the case where the staircase is tapped on on the floor plan 5600, thedisplay control section 103 may switch between the floor plan 5601 forthe first floor and the floor plan 5602 for the second floor.

FIG. 58 is a diagram showing the display state of the device controlscreen 502 for a case where the floor plan 5600 shown in FIG. 56 isadopted as the floor plan. In FIG. 58, as in FIG. 54, the device controlscreen 502 for the air conditioner is displayed. FIG. 58 is otherwisethe same as FIG. 54, and therefore is not described.

FIG. 59 is a diagram showing a floor plan 5900 in still another patternaccording to the present disclosure. The floor plan 5900 of FIG. 59 isthe same as the floor plan 5200 in that rooms are represented by blocksof the same size, but is different from the floor plan 5200 inarrangement of the rooms. Specifically, in the floor plan 5900, thefloor numbers are displayed in the vertical direction, and the roomsforming the same floor are arranged in one horizontal line. In theexample of FIG. 59, the house has three floors, namely the first floorto the third floor, and therefore the rooms forming the third floor aredisposed in the first line, the rooms forming the second floor aredisposed in the second line, and the rooms forming the first floor aredisposed in the third line. The floor number such as 1F, 2F, and 3F isindicated at the left end of each line. It is seen at a glance from thefloor plan 5900 on which floor each room is disposed.

Also in the floor plan 5900, the size of each room may be varied inaccordance with the actual room size. In the floor plan 5900, inaddition, in the case where all the rooms cannot be displayed within thedisplay region of the display 101, the floor plan 5900 may be scrolledin the horizontal direction so that a desired room can be displayed onthe display 101.

For example, in the case where there are further rooms on the secondfloor, when the touch panel control section 102 senses that the userperforms a swipe operation from the left to the right, the displaycontrol section 103 may scroll the rooms forming the second floor, orthe rooms forming the first floor to the third floor, from the left tothe right in accordance with the amount of the swipe operation.

FIG. 60 is a diagram showing the configuration of a basic screen thatadopts the floor plan 5900 shown in FIG. 59. The floor plan 5900 isdisplayed on the basic screen. In addition, the device icons 501 for thedevices 200 actually disposed are displayed within each room. The devicelist display change button 503 is a button for switching the screendisplay from the basic screen to the device list display screendiscussed earlier (see FIG. 24).

FIG. 61 is a diagram showing the display state of the device controlscreen 502 for a case where the floor plan 5900 shown in FIG. 59 isadopted. In the basic screen shown in FIG. 60, when the touch panelcontrol section 102 senses that the user selects the device icon 501,the display control section 103 causes the display 101 to display thedevice control screen 502 corresponding to the selected device icon 501.In FIG. 61, the device icon 501 for the air conditioner is selected, andtherefore the device control screen 502 for the air conditioner isdisplayed as overlapped on the floor plan 5900. In displaying the devicecontrol screen 502, the display control section 103 disposes the deviceicons 501 displayed on the floor plan 5900 outside the display region ofthe device control screen 502. In the example of FIG. 61, all the deviceicons 501 are disposed in one horizontal line on the lower side of thefloor plan 5900.

In disposing the device icons 501 in one vertical line on the lower sideof the floor plan 5900, the display control section 103 may group thedevice icons 501 under particular conditions. For example, the deviceicons 501 may be grouped in accordance with the room, may be grouped inaccordance with the type of the device 200, or may be grouped inaccordance with the category based on the type of the device 200.

In the example of FIG. 61, the device icons 501 are disposed on thelower side of the floor plan 5900. However, the device icons 501 may bedisposed in one horizontal line on the upper side of the floor plan5900, or may be disposed in one vertical line on the left or right sideof the floor plan 5900.

In the case where all the device icons 501 cannot be disposed on thelower side of the floor plan 500, the display control section 103 mayscroll the device icons 501 leftward or rightward in accordance with aswipe operation performed leftward or rightward on the device icons 501disposed in one horizontal line on the lower side to cause the deviceicons 501, which have been hidden, to be displayed within the display101.

In disposing the device icons 501 in one horizontal line on the lowerside of the floor plan 5900, the display control section 103 may displaythe device icon 501 selected by the user in a display mode that isdifferent from that for the unselected device icons 501. For example,the selected device icon 501 may be displayed in a color that isdifferent from that of the unselected device icons 501, may be displayedmore brightly than the unselected device icons 501, may be displayedmore densely than the unselected device icons 501, or may be flashed onand off at a constant cycle.

The display control section 103 may scroll an array of the device icons501 such that the device icon 501 selected by the user is positioned ata conspicuous position (for example, the leftmost, middle, or rightmostposition) in the line of icons.

In displaying the device control screen 502, the display control section103 may dispose all the device icons 501 on the outer periphery of anellipse as shown in FIG. 12.

In the floor plan 5900, the rooms on all the floors are displayed on thedisplay 101 at the same time, which may result in small display of therooms to make a user operation difficult. Thus, the display controlsection 103 may display the floor plan 5900 as enlarged in accordancewith the user operation. Specifically, when the user performs anoperation of pinching out on a certain room in the floor plan 5900 andthe touch panel control section 102 senses the operation, the displaycontrol section 103 may display the room on the display 101 as enlargedat an enlargement scale matching the amount of the pinch out.

FIG. 62 is a diagram showing a floor plan that displays a certain roomin the floor plan 5900 as enlarged. As shown in FIG. 62, the displaycontrol section 103 may display a plan view that planarly represents theshape of the relevant room as overlapped on the floor plan 5900.Alternatively, the display control section 103 may switch to displayingthe plan view. This allows the user to grasp the configuration of therooms in the house and the devices 200 disposed in each room on thefloor plan 5900 shown in FIG. 60, and to grasp the actual arrangementposition of the devices 200 in the enlarged room on the floor plan 5900shown in FIG. 62.

In the floor plan 5900 not displayed as enlarged shown in FIG. 60, it isnot necessary for the display control section 103 to display the deviceicons 501 for all the devices 200 disposed within the rooms, and thedisplay control section 103 may display only some of the device icons501.

In this case, the display control section 103 may display one or aplurality of (for example, two) device icons 501 frequently used by theuser on the floor plan 5900. Alternatively, the display control section103 may not display the device icons 501 on the floor plan 5900 notdisplayed as enlarged. This prevents the viewability of the floor plan5900 from being lowered because of an increased number of the deviceicons 501 displayed on the floor plan 5900 not displayed as enlarged.

FIG. 63 is a diagram showing the display state of the device controlscreen 502 in the floor plan 5900 displayed as enlarged shown in FIG.62. In FIG. 63, as in FIG. 54, the device control screen 502 for the airconditioner is displayed. In FIG. 63, only the device icons 501 disposedin the room (living room) displayed as enlarged are displayed on theleft side of the plan view and in the block of the living room. In theexample of FIG. 62, the device icons 501 for the air conditioner, theillumination device, and the television set are displayed in the livingroom within the plan view, and the device icon 501 for the airconditioner is selected by the user. Therefore, the device icons 501 aredisplayed in one vertical line on the left side of the plan view.

In the case where a certain room is displayed as enlarged, it is highlylikely that the user operates the device 200 disposed within the room.In the case where a certain room is displayed as enlarged, in addition,the device icons 501 for devices in the other rooms are not displayed onthe display 101. Therefore, if the device icons 501 for devices disposedin the other rooms are displayed on the left side of the plan view whenthe user selects a certain device icon 501, the user may be given asense of wrongness.

Thus, in the case where a certain room is displayed as enlarged, thedisplay control section 103 causes only the device icons 501 for thedevices 200 disposed in the room to be displayed in one vertical line onthe left side of the plan view. In the example of FIG. 64, the deviceicons 501 are displayed on the left side of the plan view. However, thedevice icons 501 may be displayed in one vertical line on the right sideof the plan view, or may be displayed in one horizontal line on theupper or lower side of the plan view.

FIG. 64 is a diagram showing screen transition from the display state ofthe basic screen to the display state of the device control screen 502.It is assumed that the user taps on the device icon 501 for the airconditioner, for example, in the basic screen which displays the floorplan 5900 not displayed as enlarged as shown in the upper left diagramof FIG. 64. Then, as shown in the upper right diagram of FIG. 64, thedisplay control section 103 displays the device control screen 502 forthe air conditioner as overlapped on the basic screen. In the screenshown in the upper right diagram of FIG. 64, on the other hand, when theuser taps on a region on the floor plan 5900 other than the devicecontrol screen 502 or taps on the device icon 501 for the airconditioner, the display control section 103 returns the screen displayto the basic screen shown in the upper left diagram of FIG. 64.

It is assumed that the user pinches out on the living room in the basicscreen shown in the upper left diagram of FIG. 64. Then, as shown in thelower left diagram of FIG. 64, the display control section 103 enlargesthe block of the living room, and at the same time displays the planview of the living room having a size matching the size of the enlargedblock as overlapped on the enlarged block. It is assumed that the userpinches in on the living room in the lower left diagram of FIG. 64.Then, the display control section 103 returns the screen display to thebasic screen shown in the upper left diagram of FIG. 64.

When the device icon 501 for the air conditioner, for example, isselected in the basic screen shown in the lower left diagram of FIG. 64,the display control section 103 displays the device control screen 502for the air conditioner as overlapped on the plan view as shown in thelower right diagram of FIG. 64. In the lower right diagram of FIG. 64,when the user taps on a region on the floor plan 5900 other than thedevice control screen 502 or on the device icon 501 for the airconditioner, the display control section 103 returns the screen displayto the screen shown in the lower left diagram of FIG. 64.

FIG. 65 is a diagram showing the configuration of a basic screen 5900which adopts the floor plan shown in FIG. 59 and in which device icons501 are not displayed. In the mode shown in FIG. 65, only rooms formingeach floor are displayed, and the device icons 501 are not displayed.

FIG. 66 is a diagram showing screen transition from the display state ofthe basic screen to the display state of the device control screen 502for a case where the basic screen in which device icons 501 are notdisplayed is adopted. It is assumed that the user pinches out on theliving room, for example, in the basic screen shown in the upper leftdiagram of FIG. 66. Then, as shown in the lower left diagram of FIG. 66,the display control section 103 displays the block of the living room asenlarged, and displays the plan view of the living room as overlapped onthe block displayed as enlarged. It is assumed that the user taps on thedevice icon 501 for the air conditioner, for example, in the screenshown in the lower left diagram of FIG. 66. Then, as shown in the lowerright diagram of FIG. 66, the display control section 103 displays thedevice control screen 502 for the air conditioner as overlapped on theplan view of the living room, and disposes the device icons 501 for theliving room in one vertical line on the left side of the plan view ofthe living room. In the lower right diagram of FIG. 66, when the usertaps on a region on the floor plan 5900 and outside the display regionof the device control screen 502, the display control section 103returns the display screen to the screen shown in the lower left diagramof FIG. 66.

FIG. 67 is a diagram showing the configuration of the home information2700 for a case where the floor plan 5200 shown in FIG. 52 is adopted.As shown in FIG. 67, the home information 6400 includes the floor plan5200, the room information 6800, and the device list 4700 managed by theserver. In the floor plan 5200, the display positions of the rooms aredetermined in advance. Therefore, the vertex information 2800 includedin the home information 2700 is omitted from the home information 6400.

The floor plan 5200 is image data obtained by representing the floorplan 5200 shown in FIG. 52 in a bitmap format, for example.Alternatively, the floor plan 5200 may be information that prescribesthe color, the shape, the size, and so forth for displaying the floorplan 5200. The room information 6800 is information for deciding theregions of rooms from the floor plan 5200.

FIG. 68 is a diagram showing the configuration of room information 6800shown in FIG. 67. As shown in FIG. 68, the room information 6800includes a room ID 6801, a room type 6802, a floor level 6803, and adisplay position 6804. The room ID 6801 is an identifier that identifiesa room on the floor plan 5200. The room type 6802 indicates the type ofthe room. The floor level 6803 indicates the floor level (floor) onwhich the room is disposed. The display position 6804 indicates thearrangement position of the room on the floor plan 5200.

FIG. 69 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence betweenthe display position 6804 in the room information 6800 and the floorplan 5200. As shown in FIG. 69, the order of the blocks on the floorplan 5200 is prescribed such that the block in the first row and thefirst column corresponds to the first cell, the block in the first rowand the second column corresponds to the second cell, the block in thefirst row and the third column corresponds to the third cell, the blockin the second row and the first column corresponds to the fourth cell,and so forth.

For example, the room with a room ID 6801 of A has a display position6804 of “FIRST CELL ON FIRST FLOOR”. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 69, thedisplay control section 103 interprets the block in the first cell (inthe first row and the first column) on the floor plan 5201 for the firstfloor as the living room.

In the example of FIG. 69, the blocks are disposed in three horizontallines, and therefore the cell in the second row and the first columncorresponds to the fourth cell, and the cell in the third row and thefirst column corresponds to the seventh cell. It should be noted,however, that this is merely exemplary. For example, in the case wherethe cells are arranged in four columns in the horizontal direction, thecorrelation between the order of the cells and the arrangement positionsof the blocks is changed as appropriate in accordance with the number ofblocks in the horizontal direction, and the cell in the second row andthe first column corresponds to the fifth cell, and the cell in thethird row and the first column corresponds to the ninth cell.

FIG. 70 is a diagram showing the configuration of a device list 4700managed by the server 300 for a case where the floor plan 5200 shown inFIG. 52 is adopted. It is not necessary for the floor plan 5200 toindicate the arrangement position of the device 200 in the room.Therefore, in the device list 4700 shown in FIG. 70, unlike FIG. 34, theroom type 6802 is registered in the arrangement 4704. The device list4700 shown in FIG. 70 is otherwise the same as the device list 4700shown in FIG. 34. For example, the air conditioner with a device ID 4701of A is disposed in the living room, and therefore “LIVING ROOM” isregistered in the arrangement 4704. In the example of FIG. 70, the roomtype 6802 is adopted as the arrangement 4704. However, any otherinformation that specifies a room may be registered. For example, theroom ID 6801 may be adopted as the arrangement 4704.

FIG. 71 is a diagram showing the configuration of a device list 3100managed by the home controller 100 for a case where the floor plan 5200shown in FIG. 52 is adopted. Also in the device list 3100 of FIG. 71,for the same reason as that for the device list 4700 of FIG. 70, theroom type 6802 is registered in the arrangement 3104. The device list3100 of FIG. 71 is otherwise the same as the device list 3100 shown inFIG. 35. Also in FIG. 71, the room ID 6801 may be adopted as thearrangement 3104.

Next, the device list 3100 for a case where the plan view of a certainroom is displayed in the case where a pinch-out operation is performedon the room on the basic screen of the floor plan 5900 as shown in FIG.62 will be described. In this case, the room information 6800 shown inFIG. 68 may include an item of the plan view of the room. Then, imagedata for the plan view of the relevant room may be registered in theitem of the plan view of the room. For the plan view of the room, asshown in FIG. 33, the origin may be set at the left end of the room, forexample, the X axis and the Y axis may be set in the horizontaldirection and the vertical direction, respectively, and the position ofthe room may be represented by the X and Y coordinates.

Meanwhile, not only the room type 6802 but also the coordinate in theroom is registered in the arrangement 3104 of the device list 3100 shownin FIG. 71. This allows the display control section 103 to discriminatefrom the content of the arrangement 3104 at what position on the planview representing the room the device icon 501 is to be disposed.

In the present disclosure, the server 300 is not an essentialconstituent element, and various types of information managed by theserver 300 (such as the home information 2700 and the state of thedevices 200) may be managed by the home controller 100. This allows thepresent disclosure described above to be embodied without the server300. In this case, it is not necessary for the home controller 100 tomanage information on the entire house, and it is only necessary tomanage information related to the devices 200 controlled by the homecontroller 100 and the house in which the devices 200 are disposed.

(Device Icon Movement Process)

Next, a device icon movement process for moving a device icon on a floorplan will be described.

FIG. 72 is a diagram showing an example of the basic screen displayed onthe display 101 of the home controller 100. FIG. 73 is a diagram showingthe configuration of the display state of the device control screen 502of the home controller 100.

In the basic screen shown in FIG. 72, when the touch panel controlsection 102 senses that the user selects the device icon 501, thedisplay control section 103 causes the display 101 to display the devicecontrol screen 502 corresponding to the selected device icon 501. Thedevice control screen 502 is a control screen that is specific to eachdevice 200 and that allows control or confirmation of the state of thedevice 200. For example, in FIG. 73, a device icon for the airconditioner is selected by the user, and the temperature setting and theair flow direction of the air conditioner are controlled using thedevice control screen 502 for the air conditioner. In FIG. 73, no deviceicons are disposed on the display 101. However, device icons may bedisplayed outside the display region of the device control screen 502 asshown in FIGS. 11 to 16.

Next, the flow of a process for moving the device icon 501 in a homecontrol system (information management system) will be described usingthe drawings.

FIG. 74 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a display process formoving and displaying a device icon on a floor plan.

First, in the case where movement of a device icon displayed on thedisplay 101 is sensed in the home controller 100, the communicationcontrol section 107 of the home controller 100 transmits an iconmovement request to the server 300 (S100301).

FIG. 75 is a diagram showing an example of an icon movement requesttransmitted in the case where a device icon for a refrigerator is moved.As shown in FIG. 75, the icon movement request includes a device ID100501 for identifying the device 200, a device type 100502 foridentifying the type of the device 200, a movement destination 100503that indicates the position of the movement destination for the deviceicon, and a retention time information 100504 that indicates whether ornot the device icon is retained at the movement destination for morethan a predetermined time.

In the case where the device icon is to be moved, the touch panelcontrol section 102 of the home controller 100 senses that thecontacting object contacts the device icon and the position of contactbetween the contacting object and the display moves without thecontacting object being moved away from the display. The touch panelcontrol section 102 counts the time for which the contacting object isretained on the display without being moved away from the display sincemovement of the contacting object is stopped, and detects whether or notthe time for which the contacting object is retained on the displaywithout being moved away from the display becomes more than thepredetermined time.

The retention time information 100504 represents whether or not the timefor which the contacting object is retained on the display without beingmoved away from the display since movement of the contacting object(device icon) is stopped becomes more than a predetermined retentiontime. For example, the retention time information 100504 storesinformation “1” in the case where the time for which the contactingobject is retained on the display without being moved away from thedisplay is more than the predetermined retention time, and storesinformation “0” in the case where the time for which the contactingobject is retained on the display without being moved away from thedisplay is not more than the predetermined retention time.

The retention time information 100504 uses “1” or “0” to representwhether or not the time for which the contacting object is retained onthe display without being moved away from the display since movement ofthe contacting object is stopped becomes more than the predeterminedretention time. However, the present disclosure is not specificallylimited thereto, and other expression methods may also be used.

When movement of the device icon is sensed, the device control section106 of the home controller 100 prepares an icon movement request. Theicon movement request may include a residence ID for identifying theresidence in which the device 200 is disposed.

Next, the device control section 302 of the server 300 receives the iconmovement request from the home controller 100, and performs an iconposition decision process for deciding the arrangement position of thedevice icon after being moved on the floor plan (S100302). The iconposition decision process performed by the server 300 will be discussedlater.

Next, the device control section 302 of the server 300 transmits to thehome controller 100 arrangement information indicating the arrangementposition of the device icon decided in the icon position decisionprocess (S100303).

Next, the display control section 103 of the home controller 100receives the arrangement information transmitted by the server 300,displays the device icon on the floor plan on the basis of the receivedarrangement information, and updates the display screen (S100304).

Subsequently, the icon position decision process in FIG. 74 will bedescribed in further detail.

FIG. 76 is a flowchart illustrating an icon position decision processperformed by the server 300.

First, the device control section 302 judges whether or not an iconmovement request from the home controller 100 is received (S100401). Theserver 300 receives an icon movement request for moving the position ofthe device icon currently displayed.

Here, in the case where it is judged that an icon movement request fromthe home controller 100 is not received (NO in S100401), the process isterminated.

In the case where it is judged that an icon movement request from thehome controller 100 is received (YES in S100401), on the other hand, thedevice control section 302 searches to find the room type of the room asthe movement destination for the device icon (S100402).

FIG. 77 is a diagram showing an example of vertex information 100600. Asshown in FIG. 77, the vertex information 100600 includes a vertex ID100601 and a vertex coordinate 100602. The vertex ID 100601 is anidentifier that identifies a vertex on the floor plan 500. The vertexcoordinate 100602 is a coordinate represented in the format of (Xcoordinate, Y coordinate, floor number), and indicates the position of avertex of a partition line or the like represented on the floor plan500. For example, the vertex with a vertex ID of B has a vertexcoordinate (X20, Y0, Z1), which represents the position on the firstfloor (the ground floor) with an X coordinate of 20 and a Y coordinateof 0.

FIG. 78 is a diagram showing an example of room information 100700. Theroom information 100700 includes a room ID 100701, a room type 100702,and a room coordinate 100703. The room ID 100701 is an identifier thatidentifies a room on the floor plan 500. The room type 100702 indicatesthe type of the room. The room coordinate 100703 is expressed by a setof the vertex IDs, and decides the region of the room on the floor plan500. For example, the room with a room ID of C is the bath, andindicates a region formed by connecting the vertexes with vertex IDs ofA, B, G, and F sequentially in this order on the floor plan 500.

FIG. 79 is a diagram showing the correlation between each vertexregistered in the vertex information 100600 and the floor plan 500. Itshould be noted, however, that in FIG. 79, the upper left vertex of thefloor plan 500 is the origin (with an X coordinate of 0 and a Ycoordinate of 0). For example, the vertex with a vertex ID of A has avertex coordinate (X0, Y0, Z1), and therefore is positioned at theorigin. Meanwhile, the vertex with a vertex ID of B has a vertexcoordinate (X20, Y0, Z1), and therefore is positioned at the upper rightvertex of the bath.

The device control section 302 specifies the room type of the roomcorresponding to the movement destination 100503 included in thereceived icon movement request on the basis of the vertex information100600 and the room information 100700.

Next, the device control section 302 searches to find the room typecorrelated with the device type of the device icon to be moved(S100403). Here, the storage section 304 of the server 300 stores areference table in which the device type and the room type arecorrelated with each other.

FIG. 80 is a diagram showing an example of a reference table 100900 inwhich the device type 100901 and the room type 100902 are correlatedwith each other. As shown in FIG. 80, the device type 100901 and theroom type 100902 are correlated with each other. The storage section 304is composed of one memory, and manages the device type 100901 (firstinformation) that indicates the type of the one or more device iconsthat represent the one or more target devices and the room type 100902(second information) that indicates the attribute of the one or morerooms as associated with each other. For example, the device type“refrigerator” is correlated with the room type “kitchen (kitchenroom)”, the device type “toilet device” is correlated with the room type“lavatory (lavatory room)”, the device type “water heater” is correlatedwith the room type “bath”, the device type “air conditioner” iscorrelated with the room types “living room” and “bedroom”, and thedevice type “television set” is correlated with the room types “livingroom”, “child's room”, and “bedroom”.

In the example of FIG. 80, the refrigerator and the toilet device arecomposed of one tuple, the air conditioner is composed of two tuples,and the television set is composed of three tuples. A device type forwhich the room for arrangement of the device is not specified, such as ahumidifier, may not be correlated with a room type. That is, the storagesection 304 does not store data that correlates the device type“humidifier” and a room type with each other.

The device control section 302 searches to find the room type correlatedwith the device type 100502 included in the received icon movementrequest from the reference table 100900.

Here, the one or more device icons include a first-type device icon thatis movable to each of the one or more rooms, and a second-type deviceicon that is movable only within a region corresponding to apredetermined room correlated in advance with the type of the deviceicon among the one or more rooms. In the reference table 100900, thedevice type and the room type of the second-type device icons arecorrelated with each other. That is, device icons of the device typesindicated in the reference table 100900 are movable only within theregion corresponding to the room type correlated with the device type.

Next, the device control section 302 judges whether or not the room typeof the room as the movement destination found in step S100402 is theroom type correlated with the device type of the device icon to be movedfound in step S100403 (S100404).

Here, in the case where it is judged that the room type of the room asthe movement destination is the room type correlated with the devicetype of the device icon to be moved (YES in S100404), the device controlsection 302 decides the position of the device icon as the position ofthe movement destination (S100405).

In the case where it is judged that the room type of the room as themovement destination is not the room type correlated with the devicetype of the device icon to be moved (NO in S100404), on the other hand,the device control section 302 judges whether or not the device icon isretained in the room as the movement destination for more than thepredetermined time (S100406). The device control section 302 referencesthe retention time information 100504 included in the received iconmovement request, and judges whether or not the device icon is retainedat the movement destination for more than the predetermined time.

In the embodiment, the retention time information 100504 representswhether or not the time for which the contacting object is retained onthe display without being moved away from the display since movement ofthe contacting object is stopped is more than the predetermined time.However, the present disclosure is not specifically limited thereto, andthe retention time information 100504 may represent the time for whichthe contacting object is retained on the display without being movedaway from the display since movement of the contacting object isstopped.

Here, in the case where it is judged that the device icon is retained atthe movement destination for more than the predetermined time (YES inS100406), the process transitions to the process in step S100405, andthe device control section 302 decides the position of the device iconas the position of the movement destination. In this case, the devicecontrol section 302 decides the movement destination 100503 included inthe received icon movement request as the position of the device icon.Then, the device control section 302 stores position information(arrangement 4704) on the movement destination 100503 in the device list(FIG. 34) managed by the server 300.

In the case where it is judged that the device icon is not retained atthe movement destination for more than the predetermined time (NO inS100406), on the other hand, the device control section 302 decides theposition of the device icon as the position before the movement(S100407). In this case, the device control section 302 decides theposition of the device icon as the position before the movement, ratherthan the movement destination 100503 included in the received iconmovement request. That is, the device control section 302 decides theposition information (arrangement 4704) stored in the device list (FIG.34) managed by the server 300 as the position of the device icon. Thedevice list stores the position of the device icon before being moved.

Next, the device control section 302 transmits to the home controller100 arrangement information that represents the position of the deviceicon on the floor plan decided in step S100405 or step S100407.

Consequently, a display screen that represents a floor plan includingone or more rooms is displayed on the display 101. One or two or morememories that manage the device type (first information) that indicatesthe type of the one or more device icons that represent the one or moretarget devices and the room type (second information) that indicates theattribute of the one or more rooms as associated with each other areused to display the one or more device icons within the region on thedisplay screen corresponding to the room corresponding to the one ormore device icons in accordance with the type of the one or more deviceicons.

When selection of any of the one or more device icons is sensed in aregion corresponding to any of the rooms included in the floor plan, acontrol screen that allows at least operation or confirmation of thestate of the target device corresponding to the selected device icon isdisplayed on the display screen representing the floor plan. Then, acontrol command that allows at least operation or confirmation of thestate of the target device corresponding to the selected control icon isoutput to the network on the basis of an operation on the controlscreen.

The one or more device icons include a first-type device icon that ismovable to each of the one or more rooms, and a second-type device iconthat is movable only within a region corresponding to a predeterminedroom correlated in advance with the type of the device icon among theone or more rooms.

When movement of the second-type device icon is sensed, it is judgedwhether or not the second-type device icon is moved out of the regioncorresponding to the predetermined room. In the case where it is judgedthat the second-type device icon is moved out of the regioncorresponding to the predetermined room, the second-type device icon isreturned to the region corresponding to the predetermined room.

When movement of the second-type device icon is sensed, in addition, itis judged whether or not the attribute of the predetermined room and theattribute of the room to which the second-type device icon is moved arethe same as each other. In the case where it is judged that the twoattributes are not the same as each other, the second-type device iconis returned to the region corresponding to the predetermined room.

When retention of the second-type device icon outside the regioncorresponding to the predetermined room for more than the predeterminedtime is sensed, the second-type device icon is displayed outside theregion corresponding to the predetermined room. In the case where thetime for which the second-type device icon is retained outside theregion corresponding to the predetermined room is the predetermined timeor less, the second-type device icon is returned to the regioncorresponding to the predetermined room.

When it is sensed that the second-type device icon is released afterbeing retained outside the region corresponding to the predeterminedroom for more than the predetermined time, meanwhile, the second-typedevice icon is displayed outside the region corresponding to thepredetermined room. In the case where the time from when the second-typedevice icon is retained outside the region corresponding to thepredetermined room to when the second-type device icon is released isthe predetermined time or less, the second-type device icon is returnedto the region corresponding to the predetermined room.

If the above is put in other words, the one or more rooms include aspecific room that permits display of only a device icon of a specifictype among the one or more device icons.

Then, when movement of a device icon of a different type other than thedevice icon of the specific type is sensed, it is judged whether or notthe device icon of the different type is moved to a region correspondingto the specific room. In the case where it is judged that the deviceicon of the different type is moved to the region corresponding to thespecific room, the device icon of the different type is moved out of theregion corresponding to the specific room.

When movement of the device icon of the different type is sensed, inaddition, it is judged whether or not the attribute of the specific roomand the attribute of the room to which the device icon of the differenttype is moved are the same as each other. In the case where it is judgedthat the two attributes are the same as each other, the device icon ofthe different type is moved out of the region corresponding to thespecific room.

When retention of the device icon of the different type inside theregion corresponding to the specific room for more than thepredetermined time is sensed, the device icon of the different type isdisplayed within the region corresponding to the specific room. In thecase where the time for which the device icon of the different type isretained inside the region corresponding to the specific room is thepredetermined time or less, the device icon of the different type ismoved out of the region corresponding to the specific room.

When it is sensed that the device icon of the different type is releasedafter being retained inside the region corresponding to the specificroom for more than the predetermined time, the device icon of thedifferent type is displayed within the region corresponding to thespecific room. In the case where the time from when the device icon ofthe different type is retained inside the region corresponding to thespecific room to when the device icon of the different type is releasedis the predetermined time or less, the device icon of the different typeis moved out of the region corresponding to the specific room.

Here, a specific display process for the device icon will be described.

FIG. 81 is a diagram showing transition of the display screen of thehome controller made in the case where the device icon for therefrigerator is moved. In the following description, the device type“refrigerator” is correlated in advance with the room type “kitchen”.

First, a device icon 101002 for a refrigerator is displayed within thefloor plan on the display 101 by the display control section 103 (theupper left diagram of FIG. 81). At this time, the device icon 101002 isdisplayed within a region corresponding to the kitchen. In this displaystate, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the contactingobject 101001 contacts the device icon 101002 to select the device icon101002.

Next, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the position ofcontact between the contacting object 101001 and the display 101 movesin a predetermined direction (in the order of the upper left diagram tothe upper right diagram of FIG. 81) without the contacting object 101001being moved away from the display 101. At this time, the display controlsection 103 moves the device icon 101002 displayed on the display 101 inaccordance with movement of the contacting object 101001.

Then, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the contactingobject 101001 is moved away from the device icon 101002 (in the order ofthe upper right diagram to the lower right diagram of FIG. 81). At thistime, the contacting object 101001 is moved away from the device icon101002 within a region corresponding to the bedroom. The time for whichthe contacting object 101001 is retained at the position of the deviceicon 101002 since movement of the contacting object 101001 is stopped isthe predetermined time (for example, three seconds) or less.

When release of the contacting object 101001 from the device icon 101002is sensed, the communication control section 107 of the home controller100 transmits an icon movement request (FIG. 75) to the server 300.Since the device icon 101002 is not retained in the room as the movementdestination for more than the predetermined time, the icon movementrequest includes the retention time information 100504 (“0”) whichindicates that the device icon 101002 is not retained in the room as themovement destination for more than the predetermined time.

Next, the device control section 302 of the server 300 receives an iconmovement request from the home controller 100.

Next, the device control section 302 searches to find the room type ofthe room as the movement destination for the device icon 101002. At thistime, the device control section 302 specifies the position coordinateof the movement destination for the device icon 101002 from the movementdestination 100503 included in the received icon movement request, andspecifies the room type of a room that includes the specified positioncoordinate on the basis of the vertex information 100600 and the roominformation 100700. In the example of FIG. 81, the device icon 101002 isdropped in the region corresponding to the bedroom, and thus the devicecontrol section 302 specifies the room type of the room as the movementdestination for the device icon 101002 as “bedroom”.

Next, the device control section 302 searches through the referencetable 100900 (FIG. 80) to find the room type correlated with the devicetype of the device icon 101002 to be moved. At this time, the room type“kitchen” is correlated with the device type “refrigerator” in thereference table 100900, and thus the device control section 302specifies the room type correlated with the device type (refrigerator)of the device icon 101002 to be moved, as “kitchen”.

Next, the device control section 302 judges whether or not the room typeof the room as the movement destination is the room type correlated withthe device type of the device icon 101002 to be moved. At this time, theroom type of the room as the movement destination is “bedroom”, the roomtype correlated with the device type of the device icon 101002 to bemoved is “kitchen”, and thus the device control section 302 judges thatthe room type of the room as the movement destination is not the roomtype correlated with the device type of the device icon to be moved.

Next, the device control section 302 references the retention timeinformation 100504 included in the received icon movement request, andjudges whether or not the device icon 101002 is retained in the room asthe movement destination for more than the predetermined time. In theexample of FIG. 81, the time for which the contacting object 101001 isretained at the position of the device icon 101002 since movement of thecontacting object 101001 is stopped is the predetermined time or less,and thus the device control section 302 judges that the device icon101002 is not retained at the movement destination for more than thepredetermined time.

The predetermined time for judging the time for which the device icon isretained in the room as the movement destination is three seconds, forexample. However, the present disclosure is not specifically limitedthereto, and the predetermined time may be four seconds or more.

Next, the device control section 302 decides the position of the deviceicon 101002 as the position before the movement. That is, the devicecontrol section 302 decides the position information (arrangement 4704)stored in the device list (FIG. 34) managed by the server 300 as thedisplay position of the device icon 101002.

Next, the device control section 302 transmits to the home controller100 arrangement information that represents the decided display positionof the device icon 101002 on the floor plan.

Next, the communication control section 107 of the home controller 100receives the arrangement information transmitted by the server 300.

Next, the display control section 103 displays the device icon 101002 onthe floor plan on the basis of the received arrangement information, andupdates the display screen. At this time, the received arrangementinformation represents the position before the movement. Therefore, thedisplay control section 103 performs display control so as to return thedevice icon 101002 from the position of the movement destination to theposition before the movement (in the order of the lower right diagram tothe lower left diagram of FIG. 81). The display control section 103 maydisplay the device icon 101002 at the position before the movement aftererasing the device icon 101002 displayed at the movement destination.Alternatively, the display control section 103 may display the deviceicon 101002 such that the device icon 101002 displayed at the movementdestination is returned to the position before the movement.

In general, the refrigerator is disposed in the kitchen. Therefore, inthe case where the device icon for the refrigerator is moved to a roomother than the kitchen, for example the bedroom, it is highly likelythat the user has made an erroneous operation. Thus, in the case where adevice icon is moved to a room where a device indicated by the deviceicon is unlikely to be disposed, an erroneous operation by the user canbe prevented by returning the moved device icon to the position beforethe movement.

Subsequently, a specific display process for the device icon for a casewhere the device icon is retained at the movement destination for morethan the predetermined time will be described.

FIG. 82 is a diagram showing transition of the display screen of thehome controller made in the case where the device icon for therefrigerator is moved and retained at a movement destination for morethan a predetermined time. In the following description, the device type“refrigerator” is correlated in advance with the room type “kitchen”.

First, a device icon 101002 for a refrigerator is displayed within thefloor plan on the display 101 by the display control section 103 (theupper left diagram of FIG. 82). At this time, the device icon 101002 isdisplayed within a region corresponding to the kitchen. In this displaystate, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the contactingobject 101001 contacts the device icon 101002 to select the device icon101002.

Next, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the position ofcontact between the contacting object 101001 and the display 101 movesin a predetermined direction (in the order of the upper left diagram tothe upper right diagram of FIG. 82) without the contacting object 101001being moved away from the display 101. At this time, the display controlsection 103 moves the device icon 101002 displayed on the display 101 inaccordance with movement of the contacting object 101001.

Then, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the contactingobject 101001 is moved away from the device icon 101002 (in the order ofthe upper right diagram to the lower right diagram of FIG. 82). At thistime, the contacting object 101001 is moved away from the device icon101002 within a region corresponding to the bedroom. The time for whichthe contacting object 101001 is retained at the position of the deviceicon 101002 since movement of the contacting object 101001 is stopped isthe predetermined time (for example, three seconds) or more.

When release of the contacting object 101001 from the device icon 101002is sensed, the communication control section 107 of the home controller100 transmits an icon movement request (FIG. 75) to the server 300.Since the device icon 101002 is retained in the room as the movementdestination for more than the predetermined time, the icon movementrequest includes the retention time information 100504 (“1”) whichindicates that the device icon 101002 is retained in the room as themovement destination for more than the predetermined time.

In the embodiment, the communication control section 107 transmits anicon movement request to the server 300 after release of the contactingobject 101001 from the device icon 101002 is sensed. However, thepresent disclosure is not specifically limited thereto. The touch panelcontrol section 102 counts the time for which the device icon 101002 isretained. The device management section 105 may prepare an icon movementrequest at the time point when the time counted by the touch panelcontrol section 102 becomes more than the predetermined time, and thecommunication control section 107 may transmit the icon movement requestprepared by the device management section 105.

In addition, the device management section 105 may inform the user, bysound, that the device icon 101002 is retained in the room at themovement destination for more than the predetermined time at the timepoint when the time counted by the touch panel control section 102becomes more than the predetermined time.

Further, the device management section 105 may inform the user, byvarying the display mode of the device icon 101002, that the device icon101002 is retained in the room at the movement destination for more thanthe predetermined time at the time point when the time counted by thetouch panel control section 102 becomes more than the predeterminedtime. For example, the device management section 105 varies the color ofthe device icon 101002 at the time when the time counted by the touchpanel control section 102 becomes more than the predetermined time.

Next, the device control section 302 of the server 300 receives an iconmovement request from the home controller 100.

Next, the device control section 302 searches to find the room type ofthe room as the movement destination for the device icon 101002. At thistime, the device control section 302 specifies the position coordinateof the movement destination for the device icon 101002 from the movementdestination 100503 included in the received icon movement request, andspecifies the room type of a room that includes the specified positioncoordinate on the basis of the vertex information 100600 and the roominformation 100700. In the example of FIG. 82, the device icon 101002 isdropped in the region corresponding to the bedroom, and thus the devicecontrol section 302 specifies the room type of the room as the movementdestination for the device icon 101002 as “bedroom”.

Next, the device control section 302 searches through the referencetable 100900 (FIG. 80) to find the room type correlated with the devicetype of the device icon 101002 to be moved. At this time, the room type“kitchen” is correlated with the device type “refrigerator” in thereference table 100900, and thus the device control section 302specifies the room type correlated with the device type (refrigerator)of the device icon 101002 to be moved, as “kitchen”.

Next, the device control section 302 judges whether or not the room typeof the room as the movement destination is the room type correlated withthe device type of the device icon 101002 to be moved. At this time, theroom type of the room as the movement destination is “bedroom”, the roomtype correlated with the device type of the device icon 101002 to bemoved is “kitchen”, and thus the device control section 302 judges thatthe room type of the room as the movement destination is not the roomtype correlated with the device type of the device icon to be moved.

Next, the device control section 302 references the retention timeinformation 100504 included in the received icon movement request, andjudges whether or not the device icon 101002 is retained in the room asthe movement destination for more than the predetermined time. In theexample of FIG. 82, the time for which the contacting object 101001 isretained at the position of the device icon 101002 since movement of thecontacting object 101001 is stopped is more than the predetermined time,and thus the device control section 302 judges that the device icon101002 is retained at the movement destination for more than thepredetermined time.

Next, the device control section 302 decides the position of the deviceicon 101002 as the position of the movement destination. That is, thedevice control section 302 decides the position information (movementdestination 100503) included in the received icon movement request asthe display position of the device icon 101002.

Next, the device control section 302 transmits to the home controller100 arrangement information that represents the decided display positionof the device icon 101002 on the floor plan.

Next, the communication control section 107 of the home controller 100receives the arrangement information transmitted by the server 300.

Next, the display control section 103 displays the device icon 101002 onthe floor plan on the basis of the received arrangement information, andupdates the display screen. At this time, the received arrangementinformation represents the position of the movement destination.Therefore, the display control section 103 performs display control soas to display the device icon 101002 at the position of the movementdestination (in the order of the lower right diagram to the lower leftdiagram of FIG. 82).

In general, the refrigerator is disposed in the kitchen. However, it isalso possible that the refrigerator is disposed in a room other than thekitchen, for example the bedroom, in accordance with the intention ofthe user. Thus, in the case where a device icon is moved to a room wherea device indicated by the device icon is unlikely to be disposed inaccordance with the intention of the user, an operation by the user canbe reflected when retention of the device icon at the movementdestination for more than the predetermined time is sensed.

Subsequently, a specific display process for a device icon for a toiletdevice with a washing function will be described.

FIG. 83 is a diagram showing transition of the display screen of thehome controller made in the case where a device icon for a toilet deviceis moved. In the following description, the device type “toilet device”is correlated in advance with the room type “lavatory”.

First, a device icon 101201 for a toilet device is displayed within thefloor plan on the display 101 by the display control section 103 (theupper left diagram of FIG. 83). At this time, the device icon 101201 isdisplayed within a region corresponding to the lavatory. In this displaystate, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the contactingobject 101001 contacts the device icon 101201 to select the device icon101201.

Next, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the position ofcontact between the contacting object 101001 and the display 101 movesin a predetermined direction (in the order of the upper left diagram tothe upper right diagram of FIG. 83) without the contacting object 101001being moved away from the display 101. At this time, the display controlsection 103 moves the device icon 101201 displayed on the display 101 inaccordance with movement of the contacting object 101001.

Then, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the contactingobject 101001 is moved away from the device icon 101201 (in the order ofthe upper right diagram to the lower right diagram of FIG. 83). At thistime, the contacting object 101001 is moved away from the device icon101201 within a region corresponding to the living room. The time forwhich the contacting object 101001 is retained at the position of thedevice icon 101201 since movement of the contacting object 101001 isstopped is the predetermined time (for example, three seconds) or less.

When release of the contacting object 101001 from the device icon 101201is sensed, the communication control section 107 of the home controller100 transmits an icon movement request to the server 300. Since thedevice icon 101201 is not retained in the room as the movementdestination for more than the predetermined time, the icon movementrequest includes the retention time information 100504 (“0”) whichindicates that the device icon 101201 is not retained in the room as themovement destination for more than the predetermined time.

Next, the device control section 302 of the server 300 receives an iconmovement request from the home controller 100.

Next, the device control section 302 searches to find the room type ofthe room as the movement destination for the device icon 101201. At thistime, the device control section 302 specifies the position coordinateof the movement destination for the device icon 101201 from the movementdestination 100503 included in the received icon movement request, andspecifies the room type of a room that includes the specified positioncoordinate on the basis of the vertex information 100600 and the roominformation 100700. In the example of FIG. 83, the device icon 101201 isdropped in the region corresponding to the living room, and thus thedevice control section 302 specifies the room type of the room as themovement destination for the device icon 101201 as “living room”.

Next, the device control section 302 searches through the referencetable 100900 (FIG. 80) to find the room type correlated with the devicetype of the device icon 101201 to be moved. At this time, the room type“lavatory” is correlated with the device type “toilet device” in thereference table 100900, and thus the device control section 302specifies the room type correlated with the device type (toilet device)of the device icon 101201 to be moved, as “lavatory”.

Next, the device control section 302 judges whether or not the room typeof the room as the movement destination is the room type correlated withthe device type of the device icon 101201 to be moved. At this time, theroom type of the room as the movement destination is “living room”, theroom type correlated with the device type of the device icon 101201 tobe moved is “lavatory”, and thus the device control section 302 judgesthat the room type of the room as the movement destination is not theroom type correlated with the device type of the device icon to bemoved.

Next, the device control section 302 references the retention timeinformation 100504 included in the received icon movement request, andjudges whether or not the device icon 101201 is retained in the room asthe movement destination for more than the predetermined time. In theexample of FIG. 83, the time for which the contacting object 101001 isretained at the position of the device icon 101201 since movement of thecontacting object 101001 is stopped is the predetermined time or less,and thus the device control section 302 judges that the device icon101201 is not retained at the movement destination for more than thepredetermined time.

Next, the device control section 302 decides the position of the deviceicon 101201 as the position before the movement. That is, the devicecontrol section 302 decides the position information (arrangement 4704)stored in the device list (FIG. 34) managed by the server 300 as thedisplay position of the device icon 101201.

Next, the device control section 302 transmits to the home controller100 arrangement information that represents the decided display positionof the device icon 101201 on the floor plan.

Next, the communication control section 107 of the home controller 100receives the arrangement information transmitted by the server 300.

Next, the display control section 103 displays the device icon 101201 onthe floor plan on the basis of the received arrangement information, andupdates the display screen. At this time, the received arrangementinformation represents the position before the movement. Therefore, thedisplay control section 103 performs display control so as to return thedevice icon 101201 from the position of the movement destination to theposition before the movement (in the order of the lower right diagram tothe lower left diagram of FIG. 83).

In general, the toilet device is disposed in the lavatory. Therefore, inthe case where the device icon for the toilet device is moved to a roomother than the lavatory, for example the living room, it is highlylikely that the user has made an erroneous operation. Thus, in the casewhere a device icon is moved to a room where a device indicated by thedevice icon is unlikely to be disposed, an erroneous operation by theuser can be prevented by returning the moved device icon to the positionbefore the movement.

Subsequently, a specific display process for a device icon for a waterheater will be described.

FIG. 84 is a diagram showing transition of the display screen of thehome controller made in the case where a device icon for a water heateris moved. In the following description, the device type “water heater”is correlated in advance with the room type “bath (bathroom)”.

First, a device icon 101301 for a water heater is displayed within thefloor plan on the display 101 by the display control section 103 (theupper left diagram of FIG. 84). At this time, the device icon 101301 isdisplayed within a region corresponding to the bathroom. In this displaystate, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the contactingobject 101001 contacts the device icon 101301 to select the device icon101301.

Next, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the position ofcontact between the contacting object 101001 and the display 101 movesin a predetermined direction (in the order of the upper left diagram tothe upper right diagram of FIG. 84) without the contacting object 101001being moved away from the display 101. At this time, the display controlsection 103 moves the device icon 101301 displayed on the display 101 inaccordance with movement of the contacting object 101001.

Then, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the contactingobject 101001 is moved away from the device icon 101301 (in the order ofthe upper right diagram to the lower right diagram of FIG. 84). At thistime, the contacting object 101001 is moved away from the device icon101301 within a region corresponding to the living room. The time forwhich the contacting object 101001 is retained at the position of thedevice icon 101301 since movement of the contacting object 101001 isstopped is the predetermined time (for example, three seconds) or less.

When release of the contacting object 101001 from the device icon 101301is sensed, the communication control section 107 of the home controller100 transmits an icon movement request to the server 300. Since thedevice icon 101301 is not retained in the room as the movementdestination for more than the predetermined time, the icon movementrequest includes the retention time information 100504 (“0”) whichindicates that the device icon 101301 is not retained in the room as themovement destination for more than the predetermined time.

Next, the device control section 302 of the server 300 receives an iconmovement request from the home controller 100.

Next, the device control section 302 searches to find the room type ofthe room as the movement destination for the device icon 101301. At thistime, the device control section 302 specifies the position coordinateof the movement destination for the device icon 101301 from the movementdestination 100503 included in the received icon movement request, andspecifies the room type of a room that includes the specified positioncoordinate on the basis of the vertex information 100600 and the roominformation 100700. In the example of FIG. 84, the device icon 101301 isdropped in the region corresponding to the living room, and thus thedevice control section 302 specifies the room type of the room as themovement destination for the device icon 101301 as “living room”.

Next, the device control section 302 searches through the referencetable 100900 (FIG. 80) to find the room type correlated with the devicetype of the device icon 101301 to be moved. At this time, the room type“bathroom” is correlated with the device type “water heater” in thereference table 100900, and thus the device control section 302specifies the room type correlated with the device type (water heater)of the device icon 101301 to be moved, as “bathroom”.

Next, the device control section 302 judges whether or not the room typeof the room as the movement destination is the room type correlated withthe device type of the device icon 101301 to be moved. At this time, theroom type of the room as the movement destination is “living room”, theroom type correlated with the device type of the device icon 101301 tobe moved is “bathroom”, and thus the device control section 302 judgesthat the room type of the room as the movement destination is not theroom type correlated with the device type of the device icon to bemoved.

Next, the device control section 302 references the retention timeinformation 100504 included in the received icon movement request, andjudges whether or not the device icon 101301 is retained in the room asthe movement destination for more than the predetermined time. In theexample of FIG. 84, the time for which the contacting object 101001 isretained at the position of the device icon 101301 since movement of thecontacting object 101001 is stopped is the predetermined time or less,and thus the device control section 302 judges that the device icon101301 is not retained at the movement destination for more than thepredetermined time.

Next, the device control section 302 decides the position of the deviceicon 101301 as the position before the movement. That is, the devicecontrol section 302 decides the position information (arrangement 4704)stored in the device list (FIG. 34) managed by the server 300 as thedisplay position of the device icon 101301.

Next, the device control section 302 transmits to the home controller100 arrangement information that represents the decided display positionof the device icon 101301 on the floor plan.

Next, the communication control section 107 of the home controller 100receives the arrangement information transmitted by the server 300.

Next, the display control section 103 displays the device icon 101301 onthe floor plan on the basis of the received arrangement information, andupdates the display screen. At this time, the received arrangementinformation represents the position before the movement. Therefore, thedisplay control section 103 performs display control so as to return thedevice icon 101301 from the position of the movement destination to theposition before the movement (in the order of the lower right diagram tothe lower left diagram of FIG. 84).

In general, the water heater is disposed in the bathroom. Therefore, inthe case where the device icon for the water heater is moved to a roomother than the bathroom, for example the living room, it is highlylikely that the user has made an erroneous operation. Thus, in the casewhere a device icon is moved to a room where a device indicated by thedevice icon is unlikely to be disposed, an erroneous operation by theuser can be prevented by returning the moved device icon to the positionbefore the movement.

Subsequently, a specific display process for a device icon for atelevision set will be described.

FIG. 85 is a diagram showing an example of an icon movement requesttransmitted in the case where a device icon for a television set ismoved. FIG. 86 is a diagram showing transition of the display screen ofthe home controller made in the case where the device icon for thetelevision set is moved. In the following description, the device type“television set” is correlated in advance with the room types “livingroom”, “bedroom”, and “child's room”.

First, a device icon 101501 for a television set is displayed within thefloor plan on the display 101 by the display control section 103 (theupper left diagram of FIG. 86). At this time, the device icon 101501 isdisplayed within a region corresponding to the bedroom. In this displaystate, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the contactingobject 101001 contacts the device icon 101501 to select the device icon101501.

Next, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the position ofcontact between the contacting object 101001 and the display 101 movesin a predetermined direction (in the order of the upper left diagram tothe upper right diagram of FIG. 86) without the contacting object 101001being moved away from the display 101. At this time, the display controlsection 103 moves the device icon 101501 displayed on the display 101 inaccordance with movement of the contacting object 101001.

Then, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the contactingobject 101001 is moved away from the device icon 101501 (in the order ofthe upper right diagram to the lower right diagram of FIG. 86). At thistime, the contacting object 101001 is moved away from the device icon101501 within a region corresponding to the living room. The time forwhich the contacting object 101001 is retained at the position of thedevice icon 101501 since movement of the contacting object 101001 isstopped is the predetermined time (for example, three seconds) or less.

When release of the contacting object 101001 from the device icon 101501is sensed, the communication control section 107 of the home controller100 transmits an icon movement request (FIG. 85) to the server 300.Since the device icon 101501 is not retained in the room as the movementdestination for more than the predetermined time, the icon movementrequest includes the retention time information 101504 (“0”) whichindicates that the device icon 101501 is not retained in the room as themovement destination for more than the predetermined time.

Next, the device control section 302 of the server 300 receives an iconmovement request from the home controller 100.

Next, the device control section 302 searches to find the room type ofthe room as the movement destination for the device icon 101501. At thistime, the device control section 302 specifies the position coordinateof the movement destination for the device icon 101501 from the movementdestination 101503 included in the received icon movement request, andspecifies the room type of a room that includes the specified positioncoordinate on the basis of the vertex information 100600 and the roominformation 100700. In the example of FIG. 86, the device icon 101501 isdropped in the region corresponding to the living room, and thus thedevice control section 302 specifies the room type of the room as themovement destination for the device icon 101501 as “living room”.

Next, the device control section 302 searches through the referencetable 100900 (FIG. 80) to find the room type correlated with the devicetype of the device icon 101501 to be moved. At this time, the room types“living room”, “bedroom”, and “child's room” are correlated with thedevice type “television set” in the reference table 100900, and thus thedevice control section 302 specifies the room type correlated with thedevice type (television set) of the device icon 101501 to be moved, as“living room”, “bedroom”, and “child's room”.

Next, the device control section 302 judges whether or not the room typeof the room as the movement destination is the room type correlated withthe device type of the device icon 101501 to be moved. At this time, theroom type of the room as the movement destination is “living room”, theroom type correlated with the device type of the device icon 101501 tobe moved is “living room”, “bedroom”, and “child's room”, and thus thedevice control section 302 judges that the room type of the room as themovement destination is the room type correlated with the device type ofthe device icon to be moved.

Next, the device control section 302 decides the position of the deviceicon 101501 as the position of the movement destination. That is, thedevice control section 302 decides the position information (movementdestination 100503) included in the received icon movement request asthe display position of the device icon 101501.

Next, the device control section 302 transmits to the home controller100 arrangement information that represents the decided display positionof the device icon 101501 on the floor plan.

Next, the communication control section 107 of the home controller 100receives the arrangement information transmitted by the server 300.

Next, the display control section 103 displays the device icon 101501 onthe floor plan on the basis of the received arrangement information, andupdates the display screen. At this time, the received arrangementinformation represents the position of the movement destination.Therefore, the display control section 103 performs display control soas to display the device icon 101501 at the position of the movementdestination (in the order of the lower right diagram to the lower leftdiagram of FIG. 86).

In general, the television set is disposed in the living room, thebedroom, and the child's room. Therefore, in the case where the deviceicon for the television set is moved from the bedroom to the livingroom, it is less likely that the user has made an erroneous operation.Thus, in the case where a device icon is moved to a room where a deviceindicated by the device icon is highly likely to be disposed, anoperation by the user can be reflected by directly displaying the moveddevice icon at the movement destination.

In the foregoing description, a plan view that planarly represents theposition and the shape of rooms forming each floor is adopted as thefloor plan 500. However, the embodiment is not limited thereto, and adiagram that schematically shows how many rooms of what type are locatedon each floor may be adopted as the floor plan.

Floor plans in other patterns will be specifically described below. FIG.87 is a diagram showing transition of the display screen of the homecontroller made in the case where the device icon for the refrigeratoris moved on a floor plan 5200 in another pattern. In the followingdescription, the device type “refrigerator” is correlated in advancewith the room type “kitchen”.

In the floor plan 5200, rooms forming one floor are each represented byone rectangular block, and the rooms on the one floor are disposed in amatrix. The blocks have the same size, and are each provided with thename of the room.

For example, the floor plan 5200 includes rooms such as a living room, akitchen, a dining room, a bath, a washroom, a lavatory, a staircase, anda hallway. In addition, the device icons 501 for the devices 200actually disposed are displayed within each room. For example, thedevice icon 501 for the illumination device is displayed in the livingroom, and therefore it is seen that the illumination device is installedin the living room.

Also in the case where such a floor plan 5200 is displayed, the deviceicon can be moved in the same manner as described above.

A display method for a device icon at the time when the device icon ismoved on the floor plan 5200 shown in FIG. 87 is substantially the sameas the display method for a device icon on the floor plan 500 describedabove.

In FIG. 87, a device icon 101002 for a refrigerator is displayed withinthe floor plan 5200 on the display 101 by the display control section103 (the upper left diagram of FIG. 87). At this time, the device icon101002 is displayed within a region corresponding to the kitchen. Inthis display state, the touch panel control section 102 senses that thecontacting object 101001 contacts the device icon 101002 to select thedevice icon 101002.

Next, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the position ofcontact between the contacting object 101001 and the display 101 movesin a predetermined direction (in the order of the upper left diagram tothe upper right diagram of FIG. 87) without the contacting object 101001being moved away from the display 101. At this time, the display controlsection 103 moves the device icon 101002 displayed on the display 101 inaccordance with movement of the contacting object 101001.

Then, the touch panel control section 102 senses that the contactingobject 101001 is moved away from the device icon 101002 (in the order ofthe upper right diagram to the lower right diagram of FIG. 87). At thistime, the contacting object 101001 is moved away from the device icon101002 within a region corresponding to the living room. The time forwhich the contacting object 101001 is retained at the position of thedevice icon 101002 since movement of the contacting object 101001 isstopped is the predetermined time (for example, three seconds) or less.

When release of the contacting object 101001 from the device icon 101002is sensed, the communication control section 107 of the home controller100 transmits an icon movement request (FIG. 75) to the server 300.Since the device icon 101002 is not retained in the room as the movementdestination for more than the predetermined time, the icon movementrequest includes the retention time information 100504 (“0”) whichindicates that the device icon 101002 is not retained in the room as themovement destination for more than the predetermined time. In addition,the position of the movement destination is represented by the roomtype, rather than by the coordinate. For example, in the case where adevice icon is moved to a region corresponding to the living room, theicon movement request includes information “living room” as informationon the movement destination.

Next, the device control section 302 of the server 300 receives an iconmovement request from the home controller 100.

Next, the device control section 302 searches to find the room type ofthe room as the movement destination for the device icon 101002. At thistime, the device control section 302 specifies the room type at themovement destination for the device icon 101002 from the movementdestination 100503 included in the received icon movement request. Inthe example of FIG. 87, the device icon 101002 is dropped in the regioncorresponding to the living room, and thus the device control section302 specifies the room type of the room as the movement destination forthe device icon 101002 as “living room”.

Next, the device control section 302 searches through the referencetable 100900 (FIG. 80) to find the room type correlated with the devicetype of the device icon 101002 to be moved. At this time, the room type“kitchen” is correlated with the device type “refrigerator” in thereference table 100900, and thus the device control section 302specifies the room type correlated with the device type (refrigerator)of the device icon 101002 to be moved, as “kitchen”.

Next, the device control section 302 judges whether or not the room typeof the room as the movement destination is the room type correlated withthe device type of the device icon 101002 to be moved. At this time, theroom type of the room as the movement destination is “living room”, theroom type correlated with the device type of the device icon 101002 tobe moved is “kitchen”, and thus the device control section 302 judgesthat the room type of the room as the movement destination is not theroom type correlated with the device type of the device icon to bemoved.

Next, the device control section 302 references the retention timeinformation 100504 included in the received icon movement request, andjudges whether or not the device icon 101002 is retained in the room asthe movement destination for more than the predetermined time. In theexample of FIG. 87, the time for which the contacting object 101001 isretained at the position of the device icon 101002 since movement of thecontacting object 101001 is stopped is the predetermined time or less,and thus the device control section 302 judges that the device icon101002 is not retained at the movement destination for more than thepredetermined time.

Next, the device control section 302 decides the position of the deviceicon 101002 as the position before the movement. That is, the devicecontrol section 302 decides the position information (arrangement 4704)stored in the device list (FIG. 34) managed by the server 300 as thedisplay position of the device icon 101002. At this time, the positioninformation stored in the device list is represented by the room type,rather than by the coordinate.

Next, the device control section 302 transmits to the home controller100 arrangement information that represents the decided display positionof the device icon 101002 on the floor plan.

Next, the communication control section 107 of the home controller 100receives the arrangement information transmitted by the server 300.

Next, the display control section 103 displays the device icon 101002 onthe floor plan on the basis of the received arrangement information, andupdates the display screen. At this time, the received arrangementinformation represents the position before the movement. Therefore, thedisplay control section 103 performs display control so as to return thedevice icon 101002 from the position of the movement destination to theposition before the movement (in the order of the lower right diagram tothe lower left diagram of FIG. 87). The display control section 103 maydisplay the device icon 101002 at the position before the movement aftererasing the device icon 101002 displayed at the movement destination.Alternatively, the display control section 103 may display the deviceicon 101002 such that the device icon 101002 displayed at the movementdestination is returned to the position before the movement.

In the foregoing description, the arrangement position of the deviceicon after being moved on the floor plan is decided by the server 300.However, the present disclosure is not specifically limited thereto, andthe arrangement position may be decided by the home controller 100. Aprocess for the home controller 100 to decide the arrangement positionof the device icon after being moved on the floor plan will be describedusing FIG. 88.

FIG. 88 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a process performed bythe home controller 100 to decide the arrangement position of the deviceicon after being moved on the floor plan.

In the case where movement of the device icon displayed on the display101 is sensed in the home controller 100, the device management section105 of the home controller 100 performs an icon position decisionprocess for deciding the arrangement position of the device icon afterbeing moved on the floor plan (S100302). The icon position decisionprocess performed by the home controller 100 will be discussed later.

Next, the display control section 103 of the home controller 100displays the device icon on the floor plan on the basis of the decidedarrangement position, and updates the display screen (S100304).

Next, the device management section 105 of the home controller 100transmits to the server 300 arrangement information indicating thearrangement position of the device icon decided in the icon positiondecision process (S101702). The device control section 302 of the server300 updates the device list on the basis of the received arrangementinformation. The home controller 100 may not transmit the arrangementinformation to the server 300. In the case where the arrangementinformation is not transmitted to the server 300, the home controlsystem may not include the server 300.

Subsequently, the icon position decision process in FIG. 88 will bedescribed in further detail.

FIG. 89 is a flowchart illustrating an icon position decision processperformed by the home controller 100. The home controller 100 stores thereference table 100900 (FIG. 80), the room information 100700 (FIG. 78),the device list 3100 (FIG. 35), and the vertex information 100600 (FIG.77).

In the case where movement of the device icon displayed on the display101 is sensed by the touch panel control section 102 of the homecontroller 100, the device management section 105 of the home controller100 searches to find the room type of the room as the movementdestination for the device icon (S101801).

Next, the device management section 105 searches to find the room typecorrelated with the device type of the device icon to be moved(S101802). Here, the device management section 105 searches through thereference table 100900 to find the room type correlated with the devicetype of the moved device icon.

Next, the device management section 105 judges whether or not the roomtype of the room as the movement destination found in step S101801 isthe room type correlated with the device type of the device icon to bemoved found in step S101802 (S101803).

Here, in the case where it is judged that the room type of the room asthe movement destination is the room type correlated with the devicetype of the device icon to be moved (YES in S101803), the devicemanagement section 105 decides the position of the device icon as theposition of the movement destination (S101804).

In the case where it is judged that the room type of the room as themovement destination is not the room type correlated with the devicetype of the device icon to be moved (NO in S101803), on the other hand,the device management section 105 judges whether or not the device iconis retained in the room as the movement destination for more than thepredetermined time (S101805). The touch panel control section 102 countsthe time for which the contacting object is retained on the displaywithout being moved away from the display since movement of thecontacting object is stopped. The device management section 105 judgeswhether or not the time for which the contacting object is retained onthe display without being moved away from the display becomes more thana predetermined time.

Here, in the case where it is judged that the device icon is retained atthe movement destination for more than the predetermined time (YES inS101805), the process transitions to the process in step S101804, andthe device management section 105 decides the position of the deviceicon as the position of the movement destination.

In the case where it is judged that the device icon is not retained atthe movement destination for more than the predetermined time (NO inS101805), on the other hand, the device management section 105 decidesthe position of the device icon as the position before the movement(S101806). That is, the device management section 105 decides theposition information (arrangement 3104) stored in the device list (FIG.35) managed by the home controller 100 as the position of the deviceicon. The device list stores the position of the device icon beforebeing moved.

Next, the display control section 103 displays the device icon on thefloor plan, and updates the display screen (S101807). At this time, inthe case where the position of the device icon is decided as theposition of the movement destination, the display control section 103directly displays the device icon at the movement destination, andupdates the display screen. In the case where the position of the deviceicon is decided as the position before the movement, on the other hand,the display control section 103 returns the device icon to the positionbefore the movement, and updates the display screen.

In FIG. 80, one memory manages the device type and the room type ascorrelated with each other. However, the present disclosure is notspecifically limited thereto, and two or more memories may manage thedevice type and the room type as correlated with each other.

FIGS. 90A to 90C are diagrams showing an example in which the devicetype and the room type are managed using three reference tables. FIG.90A is a diagram showing an example of a first reference table 101901 inwhich the device ID 101911 and the device type name 101912 arecorrelated with each other, FIG. 90B is a diagram showing an example ofa second reference table 101902 in which the room ID 101913 and the roomtype name 101914 are correlated with each other, and FIG. 90C is adiagram showing an example of a third reference table 101903 in whichthe device ID 101915 and the room ID 101916 are correlated with eachother.

In the first reference table 101901, the device ID 101911 foridentifying the device 200 and the device type name 101912 representingthe name of the type of the device 200 are correlated with each other.In the second reference table 101902, the room ID 101913 for identifyingthe room and the room type name 101914 representing the name of theattribute of the room are correlated with each other. In the thirdreference table 101903, the device ID 101915 for identifying the device200 and the room ID 101916 for identifying the room are correlated witheach other. The first reference table 101901, the second reference table101902, and the third reference table 101903 may be stored in differentmemories.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The control method according to the present disclosure is useful as acontrol method of suitably controlling one or more target devicesconnected to a network.

1. A method for controlling an information apparatus having a displayand being connected to a network, one or more target devices beingcontrolled over the network, the method causing a computer of theinformation apparatus to: display on the display, a display screenrepresenting at least a floor plan including one or more rooms; usingone or more memories that manage first information indicating each typeof one or more device icons that represent the one or more targetdevices and second information indicating each attribute of the one ormore rooms, each type of the one or more device icons being associatedwith each attribute of the one or more rooms, display each of the one ormore device icons within a region on the display screen corresponding toa room in accordance with each type of the one or more device icons;when selection of any of the one or more device icons is sensed in aregion corresponding to any of the one or more rooms included in thefloor plan, display on the display screen, a control screen for at leastoperating a target device corresponding to the selected device icon orconfirming a state of the corresponding target device; and output to thenetwork on the basis of an operation on the control screen, a controlcommand for at least operating the corresponding target device orconfirming the state of the corresponding target device, wherein the oneor more device icons including a first-type device icon that is movableto each of the one or more rooms, and a second-type device icon that ismovable only within a region corresponding to a predetermined roomassociated with the type of the device icon among the one or more rooms,and when movement of the second-type device icon is sensed, and in thecase where it is judged that the second-type device icon is moved out ofthe region corresponding to the predetermined room, a display control isperformed to return the second-type device icon to the regioncorresponding to the predetermined room.
 2. The method according toclaim 1, wherein when movement of the second-type device icon is sensed,and in the case where it is judged that an attribute of thepredetermined room is a same attribute as a room to which thesecond-type device icon is moved, a display control is performed toreturn the second-type device icon to the region corresponding to thepredetermined room.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein when itis sensed that the second-type device icon is kept to stay outside theregion corresponding to the predetermined room for more than apredetermined time, display control is performed to display thesecond-type device icon outside the region corresponding to thepredetermined room.
 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein when itis sensed that the second-type device icon to stay outside the regioncorresponding to the predetermined room for the predetermined time orless, display control is performed to return the second-type device iconto the region corresponding to the predetermined room.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein when it is sensed that the second-typedevice icon is released from keeping the second-type icon to stayoutside the region corresponding to the predetermined room after keepingthe second-type device icon to stay outside the corresponding region formore than a predetermined time, display control is performed to displaythe second-type device icon outside the region corresponding to thepredetermined room.
 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein in thecase where it is sensed that the second-type device icon is kept to stayoutside the region corresponding to the predetermined room for releasedis the predetermined time or less until the second-type device icon isreleased, display control is performed to return the second-type deviceicon to the region corresponding to the predetermined room.
 7. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein: the second-type device iconincludes a device icon that represents a toilet device with a washingfunction; and the predetermined room includes a lavatory.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein: the second-type device icon includes adevice icon that represents a water heater; and the predetermined roomincludes a bathroom.
 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein: thesecond-type device icon includes a device icon that represents arefrigerator; and the predetermined room includes a kitchen.
 10. Amethod for controlling an information apparatus having a display andbeing connected to a network, one or more target devices beingcontrolled over the network, the method causing a computer of theinformation apparatus to: display on the display, a display screenrepresenting at least a floor plan including one or more rooms; usingone or more memories that manage first information indicating each typeof one or more device icons that represent the one or more targetdevices and second information indicating each attribute of the one ormore rooms, each type of the one or more device icons being associatedwith each attribute of the one or more rooms, display each of the one ormore device icons within a region on the display screen corresponding toa room in accordance with each type of the one or more device icons;when selection of any of the one or more device icons is sensed in aregion corresponding to any of the one or more rooms included in thefloor plan, display on the display screen, a control screen for at leastoperating a target device corresponding to the selected device icon orconfirming a state of the corresponding target device; and output to thenetwork on the basis of an operation on the control screen, a controlcommand for at least operating the corresponding target device orconfirming the state of the corresponding target device, wherein the oneor more rooms including a specific room in which only a device icon of aspecific type is permitted to display among the one or more deviceicons, and when movement of a device icon of a different type other thanthe device icon of the specific type is sensed, and in the case where itis judged that the device icon of the different type is moved to aregion corresponding to the specific room, a display control isperformed move the device icon of the different type out of the regioncorresponding to the specific room.
 11. The method according to claim10, wherein when movement of the device icon of the different type issensed, and in the case where it is judged that an attribute of thespecific room is a same attribute as a room to which the device icon ofthe different type is moved, a display control is performed to move thedevice icon of the different type out of the region corresponding to thespecific room.
 12. The method according to claim 10, wherein when it issensed that the device icon of the different type is kept to stay insidethe region corresponding to the specific room for more than apredetermined time, a display control is performed to display the deviceicon of the different type within the region corresponding to thespecific room.
 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein in the casewhere it is sensed that the device icon of the different type is kept tostay inside the region corresponding to the specific room for thepredetermined time or less, a display control is performed to move thedevice icon of the different type out of the region corresponding to thespecific room.
 14. The method according to claim 10, wherein when it issensed that the device icon of the different type is released fromkeeping the device icon of the different type to stay inside the regioncorresponding to the specific room after keeping the device icon of thedifferent type to stay inside the corresponding region for more than apredetermined time, a display control is performed to display the deviceicon of the different type within the region corresponding to thespecific room.
 15. The method according to claim 14, wherein in the casewhere it is sensed that the device icon of the different type is kept tostay inside the region corresponding to the specific room for thepredetermined time or less until the device icon of the different typeis released, a display control is performed to move the device icon ofthe different type out of the region corresponding to the specific room.16. The method according to claim 10, wherein: the device icon of thespecific type includes a device icon that represents a toilet devicewith a washing function; and the specific room includes a lavatory. 17.The method according to claim 10, wherein: the device icon of thespecific type includes a device icon that represents a water heater; andthe specific room includes a bathroom.
 18. The method according to claim10, wherein: the device icon of the specific type includes a device iconthat represents a refrigerator; and the specific room includes akitchen.
 19. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium whichstores a program to be executed by an information apparatus having adisplay and being connected to a network, one or more target devicesbeing controlled over the network, the program causing a computer of theinformation apparatus to: display on the display, a display screenrepresenting at least a floor plan including one or more rooms; usingone or more memories that manage first information indicating each typeof one or more device icons that represent the one or more targetdevices and second information indicating each attribute of the one ormore rooms, each type of the one or more device icon being associatedwith each attribute of the one or more rooms, display each of the one ormore device icons within a region on the display screen corresponding toa room in accordance with each type of the one or more device icons;when selection of any of the one or more device icons is sensed in aregion corresponding to any of the one or more rooms included in thefloor plan, display on the display screen, a control screen for at leastoperating a target device corresponding to the selected device icon orconfirming a state of the corresponding target device; and output to thenetwork on the basis of an operation on the control screen, a controlcommand for at least operating the corresponding target device orconfirming the state of the corresponding target device, wherein the oneor more device icons including a first-type device icon that is movableto each of the one or more rooms, and a second-type device icon that ismovable only within a region corresponding to a predetermined roomassociated with the type of the device icon among the one or more rooms,and when movement of the second-type device icon is sensed, and in thecase where it is judged that the second-type device icon is moved out ofthe region corresponding to the predetermined room, a display control isperformed to return the second-type device icon to the regioncorresponding to the predetermined room.
 20. A non-transitorycomputer-readable recording medium which stores a program to be executedby an information apparatus having a display and being connected to anetwork, one or more target devices being controlled over the network,the program causing a computer of the information apparatus to: displayon the display, a display screen representing at least a floor planincluding one or more rooms; using one or more memories that managefirst information indicating each type of one or more device icons thatrepresent the one or more target devices and second informationindicating each attribute of the one or more rooms, each type of the oneor more device icons being associated with each attribute of the one ormore rooms, display each of the one or more device icons within a regionon the display screen corresponding to a room in accordance with eachtype of the one or more device icons; when selection of any of the oneor more device icons is sensed in a region corresponding to any of therooms included in the floor plan, display on the display screen, acontrol screen for at least operating a target device corresponding tothe selected device icon or confirming a state of the correspondingtarget device; and output to the network on the basis of an operation onthe control screen, a control command for at least operating thecorresponding target device or confirming the state of the correspondingtarget device, wherein the one or more rooms including a specific roomin which only a device icon of a specific type is permitted to displayamong the one or more device icons, and when movement of a device iconof a different type other than the device icon of the specific type issensed, and in the case where it is judged that the device icon of thedifferent type is moved to a region corresponding to the specific room,a display control is performed to move the device icon of the differenttype out of the region corresponding to the specific room.